omar-slams-eci-over-gerrymandering-in-west-bengal-polls

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday took a sharp jibe at the Election Commission of India (ECI) over alleged “gerrymandering” in poll-bound West Bengal. He said such efforts would not alter ground realities or the outcome of the Assembly elections, predicting a decisive victory for the Trinamool Congress.

 

In a post on X, Omar wrote, “No amount of effort by the Election Commission to gerrymander will change the results. Come counting day, Mamata Didi will win a thumping majority.”

 

Commenting on the large-scale transfer of senior officials ordered by the ECI in West Bengal, he said such sweeping changes were routine in non-BJP-ruled states ahead of elections.

 

Omar stated “These kinds of sweeping transfers have become the norm in the country, especially if they are non-BJP states and have elections on the table, and West Bengal in that sense is no surprise.” He added, “However, despite these moves, people of Bengal will once again prove my point, that officers don’t win you elections; it’s the leaders and candidates who win elections.”

The transfers include Chief Secretary Nandini Chakravorty, Home Secretary Jagdish Prasad Meena, Director General of Police (DGP) Peeyush Pandey, and Kolkata Police Commissioner Supratim Sarkar, among others, as part of the ECI's post-poll schedule administrative reshuffle to ensure free and fair polls.

 

West Bengal will go to the polls in two phases on April 23 and April 29, with vote counting on May 4.

 

Also read: Shoppers throng Srinagar markets ahead of Eid al-Fitr