Intellectuals, opposition demand removal of CEO

A group of intellectuals, including poet Sankha Ghosh, former Supreme Court Justice Asok Ganguly, theatre personality Kaushik Sen and social activist Miratun Nahar, under the banner ‘Save Democracy' met Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi on Thursday to demand removal of CEO Sunil Gupta and deputy election commissioner Sandeep Saxena.
They also pressed for the arrest of Anubrata Mondal.The team alleged that there is lack of visibility of the central force during polling and that a portion of the district administrative officials are working in a partisan manner. "Soumtra Chatterjee Aparna Sen had some other engagements but they have signed the memorandum that we have submitted to Zaidi," Sen said.
The CPM and BJP delegations claimed there was a lack of a democratic ambience during the polls and that the CEO's office has failed to win the confidence of the people.
When asked about their reason behind the coming, Ganguly said, "There should be democratic atmosphere in the state so that the people can go fearlessly and exercise their franchise. This is very much missing in West Bengal. Some people working in a partisan manner. The responsibility of the post of CEO and Deputy Election Commissioner should be given to someone else. We have asked the commission so that appropriate action is taken and democratic environment is restored".
A CPM delegation headed by senior leaders like Bikash Ranan Bhattacharya and Rabin Deb met Zaidi and rasied complaints against CEO Sunil Gupta. "We have raised our complaint against the CEO. He is in-charge and has not been discharging his duties properly," Bhattacharya said. Party leader Rabin Deb said they have lodged 156 complaints to CEC and CEO but got irrelevant replies from the CEO office.
BJP team led by Sidharth Nath Singh also registered his protest with the ECI. "We are not satisfied. The elections are not as free and fair as they should have been. EC cannot be a mute spectator. The CEO office has not been able to win the confidence of voters," Singh said
Mukul Roy who led the Trinamool team said, "There are 15 to 20 booths where there have been problems. What is the percentage? Nothing. We are satisfied with the polling process and asked the EC to ensure the rest of the phase goes peacefully".