Nandita Sinha, wife of decreased Trinamool Congress leader, Kajal Sinha, has held Deputy Election Commissioner, Sudip Jain, and other ECI officials responsible for the death of her husband. Nandita in a police complaint sought registration of a case of culpable homicide against Jain and other officials of the Election Commission. Kajal, who was the TMC's Khardaha candidate, contracted Covid-19 on April 20 and passed away five days later on April 25.
The letter comes days after the Madras High Court pulled up the Election Commission of India, blaming it for the second wave and remarked that it should be put up for murder charges. Elections in Khardah were held on April 22.
In the complaint, Nandita has alleged that the ECI turned a blind eye towards ensuring compliance with Covid protocols, resulting in the deaths of thousands of people ,including her husband. She alleged that the poll body ignored TMC's recommendation to club multiple phases together and also ignored the continuous alarms raised by the Calcutta High Court.
She mentioned that three other candidates- Samir Ghosh (Independent candidate from Baisnabnagar), Pradip Nandi (RSP candidate Jangipur) and Rezaul Haque (Congress candidate from Samsherganj), had also passed away during electioneering.
Nandita has sought action against Jain and other officials for committing offences punishable under Sections 120B, 269, 270, 304 of the Indian Penal Code.
The ruling Trinamool Congress which is locked in a bitter battle for power with the BJP in poll-bound West Bengal, has been vocal against the eight-phase election schedule and accused the ECI of being “partisan”. It has been at war with the Commission , even threatening to take it to court once elections are over.
On Wednesday, a day ahead of the last phase of polls, the Trinamool released the letter (also on social media) with party spokesperson, Riju Dutta posting it on Twitter. “....These murderers need to be brought to justice,” he wrote in his post.