CM Mamata Banerjee to release TMC manifesto for West Bengal Assembly polls

Image courtesy: ANI

Kolkata: All India Trinamool Congress will release its manifesto on Wednesday (March 17) for the upcoming Assembly election in West Bengal. Earlier, the TMC had announced to release its manifesto on March 9, but it was postponed till March 11 in the wake of the Kolkata fire incident which claimed nine lives. 

The ruling party could not release its manifesto on Thursday (March 18) due to an alleged attack on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during a poll campaign in Nandigram on March 10. 

According to reports, TMC chairperson Mamata Banerjee will be addressing the media from her Kalighat office today at 5 PM. She is expected to release the party's manifesto for the upcoming 2021 Assembly elections.

Notably, the party released the list of 291 candidates on March 5 for West Bengal's eight-phase elections beginning from March 27. Votes will be counted on May 2.

Earlier on Tuesday, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee received a stern message from Election Commission, which said that it was not proper to belittle the institution by calling it as being close to the ruling party. The EC asserted that it would not like to be repeatedly "put in the dock" with innuendos and averments.

Despite meeting representatives of the TMC in Kolkata and the national capital in the recent past, "if it is stated by the CM that the Commission should meet political parties, it is only an attempt to belittle the institution of Commission with repeated innuendos and averments", the poll panel said in response to a letter from Banerjee to Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora on March 14.

Deputy Election Commissioner in charge of West Bengal Sudeep Jain wrote to Banerjee, "Commission maintains the position that they would not like to keep on being put in the dock for alleged proximity to any political entity." 

Recently, the TMC had urged the panel to remove Jain as in charge of West Bengal and had questioned his neutrality. The commission, however, defended Jain by coming out with a press statement.

(With Agency Inputs)