Mamata sees red, shoots off second protest letter to CEC

Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has fired off a second letter in rapid succession to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, this time demanding “immediate intervention” into what she called two “disturbing yet urgent developments undermining the integrity of the state’s electoral process”.

- SUPROTIM MUKHERJEE

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. PTI

The explosive letter, sent late on Monday, follows last week’s communication to the poll panel and continues Banerjee’s combative stance as political tensions escalate ahead of the upcoming elections.

Banerjee’s first salvo was directed at the Chief Electoral Officer’s (CEO) decision to centralise the hiring of 1,000 data entry operators and 50 software developers for election-related data work—roles previously filled by district offices through their own contractual staff.

She raised sharp objections: “When district offices already have a substantial number of competent professionals performing such functions, what necessitates the CEO's initiative to outsource the same work through an external agency for a full year?”