BJP writes to Election Commission accusing TMC of breaching candidate’s data: demand suspension of party’s X handle

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India]: Bharatiya Janata Party has written a letter to the Election Commission of India alleging that Trinamool Congress has violated fundamental rights of privacy of party candidate Rekha Patra by putting her personal details on social media.

Demanding action, it has called for TMC’s ‘X’ handle to be suspended for the remaining campaigning period and demanded an ‘unconditional apology’.

BJP in a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners, alleged that TMC’s Social Media Incharge Debganshu Bhattacharya and the party’s official X handle posted the personal details of Patra her personal phone number and her bank details, which is a “clear violation of her right to privacy.”

“The post carried personal details of the BJP Candidate- Rekha Patra from Basirhat and mocked her for being a beneficiary of a health Scheme, Swasthya Sarthi and Duare Sarkar Scheme of the State Government in a malicious and mala fide manner with the sole intent of showing her in poor light,” the letter stated.

BJP also raised concerns over how TMC, has “unlawful access” to the confidential private data of the beneficiaries that is in exclusive custody for the State Government.

“The right to privacy of Rekha Patra has been violated by the AITC and its office bearers In addition the access to the government data by AITC, prima facie violates the provisions of The Digital Personal Data Protection Act of 2023,” the letter added.

It further said that in the letter that it is a violation of Election Laws, with Model Code of Conduct in place; violation of constitutional right to privacy. It is also a crime under defamation as per Section 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the party said.

BJP has urged the Election Commission to direct West Bengal Chief Secretary to stop any breach of data security of central or state government schemes and to set up a high-level enquiry committee to find out how the data was breached.

It has also demanded the X handle of TMC to be “suspended for the rest of the campaigning period.”
The party has also demanded an “unconditional apology” from Bhattacharya and TMC to Rekha Patra.
Patra, a resident of Sandeshkhali, was named a candidate by the BJP in Basirhat. It was she who first raised the voice for the women of Sandeshkhali and all three accused in the case, namely TMC MLA Sheikh Shahjahan, Shibu Hazra and Uttam Sardar, were arrested later.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a telephonic call to Rekha Patra to convey his best wishes for the elections last week.