TMC leaders holding dharna outside EC office detained

Abhishek: ECI failing to ensure free fair polls, murdering democracy’

A 10-member delegation of Trinamool Congress (TMC) which visited the Election Commission of India (ECI) headquarters in New Delhi on Monday, demanding the transfer of the newly appointed chief of National Investigation Agency (NIA) Sadanand Date and the agency's officer Dhan Ram Singh, was later detained, and allegedly manhandled by the Delhi Police during their sit-in protest outside the building.

Meanwhile, later in the day TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee led a party team and met Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose.

Following the meeting with Bose at Raj Bhavan, Abhishek alleged that the EC is failing to ensure free and fair polls while predicting that BJP will see far worse results in the Lok Sabha elections compared to its performance in 2021 Bengal Assembly polls.

Abhishek told the media: "What was the fault of our delegation members that the Delhi Police had to mercilessly crack down on them? Was it asking for permission to allow the state to release funds for relief purposes, or demanding the transfer of chiefs of central probe agencies who are being manipulated by the BJP?" He added: "Such police action on our delegation could not have taken place without the nod of the Election Commission.