A K Singh at SEC office in Kolkata on Monday. (Photo: Partha Paul)
State Election Commissioner A K Singh on Monday dismissed the BJP’s claims that he had received death threats from the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and that his telephone calls were being tapped.
“I have not received any kind of threat from any leader of TMC. To be precise, I have not received any threat from any political party or individual. The allegations that my meetings with delegations are video-recorded and my telephones are tapped are also baseless,” he said at a press conference.
Singh’s clarification came a day after BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha made the claims about the threats and tapping. “… if any anyone tries to threaten me, it will be too much for them to digest,” said Singh.
Singh insisted he was not the kind of person who could be threatened. “There had been lots of differences with the government but that does not mean anyone will threaten me.”
Singh dismissed Sinha’s allegation that the State Election Commission was acting on TMC’s behalf because of the threats. He did not rule out sending a legal notice to Sinha. Singh added they were looking into the model code of conduct to ascertain if there had been any violation of its provisions.
Sinha stuck to his guns. “It is clear he (Singh) is hiding the truth and called the press conference under pressure. Yesterday (Sunday), he refused to comment. Today (Monday), under pressure from the ruling party, he had to hold a press conference and say my statements were untrue.”
Singh separately rubbished reports that he had withdrawn his notification extending the date for filing of nominations for the May 14 Panchayat polls by a day under the TMC pressure.
He refused to comment on the security arrangements for the polls. He said it would be improper for him to do so a day before the Calcutta High Court hears a petition citing “inadequacy of the forces” for the polls.
Opposition parties have expressed their unhappiness over the security arrangement for the polls since the violence in the run-up to the filing of nominations. They have moved the high court seeking proper security.