Kolkata: Ruling Trinamool Congress on Friday attacked the State Election Commission, with which it is engaged in a tussle over the panchayat poll, of being 'biased' in favour of the opposition parties and accused the erstwhile Left Front government of doubling the tenure of the present election commissioner to derive political benefit.
"The state election commission is biased in favour of the Opposition parties. And I suspect the draft of the letters it(SEC) is sending to the state government is being prepared in the office of a political party which is afraid of facing the polls," the TMC general-secretary Mukul Roy told a press conference here without naming any party.
The tenure of the present state election commissioner Mira Pandey was doubled to six years 'unconstitutionally' by the erstwhile Left government in 2010 to derive 'political benefit', he said.
The then Left government had doubled Pandey's tenure by effecting an amendment in the West Bengal State Election Commission Act with an eye on the 2013 panchayat polls. "This was not constitutional," Roy said without naming her.
"The tenure of the state election commissioner was doubled as the Left Front could forsee its dwindling political fortunes since 2008 and drubbing in the hustings in 2011 assembly election," he claimed.
Asserting that TMC was ready to face the panchayat polls, which the state government wanted to be held in February, Roy alleged that the state poll panel was 'deliberately' delaying the election process to benefit the opposition politically.
TMC was confident of repeating its 2011 performance, when it ended the 34 year-long Left rule, in the panchayat polls too but the opposition parties were not eager to face the polls for 'fear of defeat', Roy, a former Railway Minister said.
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