Darjeeling, 05th March: Minutes after the All India Trinamool Congress announced the names of 291 candidates who will be contesting the Assembly election in the state, Darjeeling MP Raju Bista released a statement taking a jibe at his opposition.
The statement accuses TMC of destroying democracy in Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts since 2017. “By allowing non-elected political appointees who are loyal to TMC to continue running GTA, TMC is blatantly trying to influence voters,” it added.
He further complained of receiving allegations regarding running GTA by luring voters with employment offers, job permanency offers, and even intimidating many individuals.
The MP maintained that he has written to Governor Jagdeep Dhankar and Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora requesting them to remove the “political appointees” from GTA and let the body be run by bureaucrats under the supervision of the governor directly.
“Across West Bengal, our party has demanded that the control of all Municipalities and rural bodies that are currently being run by unelected TMC nominees be taken over by the Election Commission.”
“Subversion of democratic norms will not be tolerated and I most hopeful that the Election Commission will take due cognizance and initiate necessary actions in this regard,” the statement read.
