The Trinamool Congress’ general secretary and the party’s leader in the Lok Sabha Abhishek Banerjee accused the Election Commission of violating directives issued by the Supreme Court regarding use of WhatsApp and role of micro and special observers.
Sharing screenshots of WhatsApp messages on his X, Abhishek accused the commission and one of its Special Roll Observers (SROs) of issuing instructions via the messaging service.
“Is the EC of the view that directions of the Supreme Court can be openly flouted? The highest court of the land has repeatedly emphasised transparency, due process and adherence to official channels of communication. Yet we are witnessing instructions being circulated over WhatsApp rather than through formal, traceable, and accountable mechanisms,” Abhishek wrote.
He said that the party will take up the matter with the apex court when the matter comes up for hearing next.
The Diamond Harbour MP claimed to have “credible” information against a SRO appointed by the commission, of issuing instructions via WhatsApp to allegedly inflate the numbers of deleted voters.
“Need I remind the EC of the Supreme Court’s categorical directive that the role of micro-observers must remain strictly assistive? Why, then, is statutory procedure being bypassed, and under whose instructions?” asked Abhishek.
The poll official is accused of instructing electoral registration officers (EROs) of rejecting birth certificates issued by the local panchayats in the rural constituencies as proof of birth.
The Trinamool called the alleged order “patently lawful.”
The party said the apex court, while issuing a set of directives during the hearing, which was attended by chief minister Mamata Banerjee, had stated that final decision on inclusion and exclusion of electors rested with the EROs. The micro-observers were not authorised to make any decisions and all documents issued by competent authorities to be accepted by the central poll panel.
Abhishek claimed there were other anomalies in the process and called for a probe.
“Roll observers are designated district-wise, yet it is seen that login credentials linked to these observers are being accessed from a central location in Calcutta. Login data is being misused to generate queries and specifically target a certain community at the direction of the EC’s political masters in Delhi,” Abhishek said. “Should this matter be independently examined, it will be established that the tower location and IP address of the login device differ from the actual location of the roll observer concerned.”
The Trinamool said the EC could not afford to function as a “political back office” and to retain its credibility must answer these questions.