Six-member TMC delegation to meet EC in Delhi over 'attack' on Mamata

A six-member parliamentary delegation of the Trinamool Congress will meet Election Commission officials in Delhi on Friday over concerns following the alleged attack on TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the party sources said.

Six TMC MPs from both the Houses of Parliament have flown to the capital to be part of the delegation which will meet the EC at 12 noon.

The delegation comprises Derek O'Brien (Leader, AITC Parliamentary Party, Rajya Sabha), Saugata Roy (MP, Lok Sabha), Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar (MP, Lok Sabha), Satabdi Roy (MP, Lok Sabha), Pratima Mondal (MP, Lok Sabha) and Santanu Sen (MP, Rajya Sabha).

A delegation of the party also met poll panel officials in Kolkata on Thursday and later alleged that the "Election Commission did nothing despite there being reports of a possible attack on Banerjee".

Claiming that the attack was a "deep-rooted conspiracy to take the life of the TMC supremo", party leaders alleged that anti-social elements have been mobilised from the neighbouring states by the BJP in Nandigram to unleash violence.

The EC can't shun responsibility as it is in charge of the law-and-order situation in poll-bound West Bengal, it said.

The Trinamool Congress supremo was injured in the leg after being allegedly pushed by unidentified people near a temple at Reyapara area during campaigning at Nandigram on Wednesday, where the BJP has pitted her protege-turned-adversary Suvendu Adhikari against her.

Banerjee alleged that she was pushed by four to five men while she was trying to get into the car, following which she fell flat on her face.

The EC on Thursday sent a strongly-worded letter to the TMC on its memorandum over injuries to Banerjee during campaign, saying it looks "undignified to even respond" to allegations that the poll panel is doing things in the state at the behest of a "particular party".