Subhas spits fire at EC after retaining seat

Kolkata, May 11 (UNI) A vociferous Sports Minister Subhas Chakraborty renewed his tirade against the Election Commission after he emerged victorious from the Belgachia East constituency.

A wafer-thin margin of 1800 votes, did not stop the maverick minister from stating, ''the people have been able to unmask the EC's face. They have proved the EC wrong. They have shown that voting is done in a free and fair manner in this constituency like in entire Bengal.'' ''The victory means a defeat of the combined opposition which worked in unison to throw me off the seat. The people have answered them,'' he said.

Continuing with his attack, he said ''I am thankful to the people for proving the EC wrong.'' The Sports and Youth Affairs Minister had even accused the EC of overstepping its limits. The EC retaliated by lodging an FIR against him, putting the entire party in a spot.

Known for attracting controversies, he then saw election observers Mr Bhimashankar and Mr Sahu being removed from the constituency for passing unwarranted comments on the poll process in the seat.

Deputy EC Anand Kumar in fact spent a majority of time during the third phase of the polls by keeping a personal vigil over the constituency.

UNI BA PL PA KN1712