West Bengal assembly election: Will move election panel against TMC for morphed picture, says BJP

New Delhi: The BJP on Sunday said it will petition the Election Commission on Monday to demand deregistration of the Trinamool Congress in the wake of release of a morphed picture showing Home Minister Rajnath Singh offering sweets to CPI-M leader Prakash Karat.

"We will move the Election Commission tomorrow (Monday) to demand the deregistration of the TMC," Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sidharth Nath Singh told IANS here.

"The TMC has realised that they have lost the elections. Therefore, they are using unethical and desperate measures" to defame others and gain brownie points, Singh said.

Only three of the scheduled six phases in West Bengal assembly elections have been completed so far.

Trinamool`s Rajya Sabha member Derek O`Brien on Saturday displayed a photograph reportedly showing Rajnath Singh offering sweets to Communist Party of India-Marxist former general secretary Prakash Karat in a bid to prove close links between the CPI-M and the BJP leaders.

The BJP later showed the "real picture" showing the home minister offering sweets to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Veteran Communist Party of India (CPI) leader D. Raja told IANS: "It shows their (TMC) depression and fear of defeat. It also shows to what extent they can stoop as they have no respect for the people."

The CPI leader wondered if the incident wasn`t a clear case of violation of model code of conduct and said the Election Commission should take note of the issue and initiate action against the Trinamool.

The BJP and the CPI-M on Sunday filed separate police complaints against the ruling TMC as well as Derek O`Brien for the morphed picture, which was one of the several pictures O`Brien flaunted.

The TMC later admitted the picture was photoshopped and removed it from the party`s website. O`Brien too admitted it was a "mistake" and sought to "end the chapter".