TMC, BJP justify tickets to candidates with criminal cases

In the run-up to the West Bengal assembly election, the ruling All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) has sought to justify tickets to 114 candidates embroiled in criminal cases saying they are popular, dedicated and have worked for the society while the BJP has justified tickets to 13 such candidates so far saying cases were lodged against them by the current government.

The Election Commission of India (ECI), following a Supreme Court order, had directed political parties last year to publically explain if they chose a candidate with criminal antecedents for a ticket. It had specifically asked parties to explain the reasons for the selection of a candidate with reference to qualifications, achievements and merit, and not mere winnability at the polls. The AITC has declared all of its 291 candidates while the BJP has declared 60.


The AITC has declared the reasons by way of making public Form C of 114 such candidates, includes its ministers such as Subrata Mukherjee and Firhad Hakim who are facing corruption cases. “Mukherjee is a veteran leader, he has been serving the assembly constituency of Ballygunge for the last four decades. He is one of the most famous and hardworking leader. As a sitting MLA, he has toiled hard to implement the policies and programmes of the party and the government,” the party said regarding Mukherjee.

Regarding Hakim, who was recently in the news for driving chief minister Mamata Banerjee on an electric scooter, the party said he has “exhibited extreme care and concern for the people of his constituency (Kolkata Port), has always helped the needy and the party feels he will work for the betterment of the people there; no one else shares the popularity as that of Hakim”.

The BJP has similarly sought to justify a ticket to former CPI-M leader Swadesh Ranjan Nayak, who switched sides last year and has six pending cases against him. “Most of the cases against him are arising out of political vendetta,” it said.

The party has blamed the three cases against its candidate from Gopiballavpur, Sanjit Mahanta, as “politically motivated and (they) ensued during the rule of the present political dispensation.” It also blamed the AITC for a case against its Jhargram candidate, Sukhamay Satpathy. “The cases against him have been slapped by the ruling dispensation recently as he participated frequently in rallies and movements against the ruling government,” it said.