The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday ordered the state government to suspend four Kolkata Police officers, including the division’s deputy commissioner, and initiate disciplinary action against them over chaos outside the nomination centre, where senior Suvendu Adhikari and other BJP candidates had filed their papers the previous day amid clashes and alleged sloganeering by workers of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC).
“The Election Commission of India has directed the state government to suspend four officers and initiate disciplinary proceedings against them — Siddhartha Dutta, second deputy commissioner of southern division, Priyankar Chakraborty, officer in charge (OC) of Alipur police station, Chandni Sharan Banerjee, additional commandant, and Saurabh Chatterjee, sergeant,” a senior EC official said.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday accompanied Adhikari — who is contesting against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee from Bhabanipur seat — along with Rashbehari candidate Swapan Dasgupta, Ballygunge seat candidate Chataroba, and Santosh Pathak from Chowringhi to the Alipore poll building, where they submitted their papers. This came after Shah addressed a rally in Hazrat, just 300 meters from the Prime Minister’s residence in Kalighat.
The clashes broke out after local TMC workers gathered on both sides of the road and chanted anti-BJP slogans, allegedly targeting Adhikari, who defeated Banerjee in Nandigram in 2021. TMC supporters allegedly installed loudspeakers around the survey building and played the party’s campaign songs.
