Suvendu Adhikari Calls for Relief of State Government Representatives Ahead of Dhupguri Bypoll
Opposition Leader Urges Action Against Alleged Biased Officials
Suvendu Adhikari, the head of the opposition in the assembly, has urged that two state government representatives be relieved of their duties in connection with the Dhupguri bypoll on September 5.
In the July 8 rural elections, he said that the pair carried out the orders of the governing Trinamul party.
Adhikari arrived at the Jalpaiguri circuit house on Thursday and met Kailash Sukhdeo Pagare, the general observer assigned by the election commission to monitor the election. Adhikari has been campaigning since Wednesday for Tapasi Roy, the BJP candidate for the bypoll required by the recent death of the BJP MLA Bishnupada Roy.
"I asked him to release Santanu Sarkar, the inspector in charge of the Banarhat police station, and Koushik Chanda, a deputy magistrate and deputy collector (placed at the Jalpaiguri district collectorate), from their duties regarding the bypoll. After meeting the observer, Adhikari said that both of them had participated in the Trinamul campaign during the most recent panchayat elections.
In order to avoid rigging, the BJP legislator asked sufficient protection for the byelection.
Around 25 companies of central paramilitary personnel will be stationed at the booths, according to administration sources. "There will be web cams in every one of the 260 booths in the Assembly constituency. The counting center will also be protected by the central military, according to an official.
The district magistrate, Moumit Godara Basu, avoided giving a clear response when questioned about Adhikari's proposal.
"We have given the election commission any information that was requested of us," she stated.
Adhikari, who subsequently arrived in Dhupguri, criticized the Mamata Banerjee administration for the state's healthcare system.
"Dhupguri and the neighborhood around it lack adequate healthcare services. For medical care, locals must go to Siliguri or Jalpaiguri. While the wealthy get care in private nursing homes, the underprivileged experience a catastrophe. The state government's health insurance card is useless, according to the BJP MLA for Nandigram, whether used in local or out-of-state private clinics.
Adhikari further said that Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister, had not given the Center the land it needed to build hospitals.
"The national government has asked the state for land so that it may build an AIIMS-caliber hospital in north Bengal. In Kalyani, one similar hospital is nearly complete. However, whether in Raiganj or Cooch Behar, the chief minister would not provide access to land. She opposes the development of federal initiatives in the region, Adhikari said.
Leaders of the Trinamul party laughed off these accusations while supporting Nirmal Chandra Roy as their candidate.
"Saffron leaders are approaching observers on the one hand and making false accusations on the other out of desperation (to keep the Dhupguri seat)." Mamata Banerjee has established a number of medical schools, super-specialty hospitals, and other health centres in the area, which the people of north Bengal are aware of, according to Chandan Bhowmik, a top Trinamul politician from the Jalpaiguri district.
