The Election Commission of India (EC) Tuesday issued orders to keep Trinamool Congress leader Anubrata Mondal under the strict surveillance of the executive magistrate and CAPF from 5 pm on April 27 till 7 am on April 30 to ensure free and fair polling.
Election Commission asks West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer to keep Anubrata Mondal, Birbhum TMC president, under ‘strict surveillance of executive magistrate & CAPF, round the clock for 5 pm of April 27 till 7 am of April 30 for ensuring free & fair elections’ pic.twitter.com/OVimJuJiL5
— ANI (@ANI) April 27, 2021
The decision was taken after the chief electoral officer received “several complaints against Mondal”, an official privy to the development said.
“In view of the feedback received from various sources and as per the report of the DEO and SP, Birbhum, the commission has directed that Mondal, District President of AITC, Birbhum, be kept under the strict surveillance of the executive magistrate and CAPF for ensuring free and fair elections,” the letter to Chief electoral officer of West Bengal said.
In addition, during this period, videography would be conducted “with date and stamping”.
Birbhum is slated to go for polls in the eighth and final phase of the assembly elections on Thursday.
This is not the first time that Anubrata Mondal has been kept under surveillance during the election polls in West Bengal. Due to his troubled history, Mondal was placed under similar surveillance during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and the 2016 assembly polls.
Anubrata Mondal has a history of being kept under surveillance by the Election Commission
Mondal was kept under surveillance during the 2019 General elections after the representatives of the poll workers expressed fear of the leader and said they would feel threatened if the TMC Birbhum district president keeps moving from one booth to the other on the polling day.
In 2016 too, during the West Bengal Assembly polls, Anubrata Mondal had been put under 24-hour surveillance by the Election Commission.
In July 2013, he had asked his supporters at a public meeting in Birbhum to hurl bombs at the police and burn down houses of rebel TMC candidates in panchayat elections.
In September 2018, he was caught on camera allegedly instructing TMC workers to get a party rebel and a woman BJP leader arrested on a false case of possessing cannabis.
In April 2019, Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Anubrata Mondal made an appeal to the Election Commission (EC) officials to let him rig the polls and allow his people to “manage” 500-600 votes per booth.
