Shortly after the Election Commission on Monday barred West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC boss Mamata Banerjee from campaigning for 24 hours, her party claimed that the poll panel was behaving like a "wing of the BJP" and its decision smacks of authoritarianism. Derek O'Brien, the ruling party's Rajya Sabha MP, said it was a black day for India's democracy. "EC stands for Extremely Compromised. April 12 BLACK DAY in our democracy," O'Brien tweeted. "Always knew we were winning Bengal," he added. Echoing him, another party leader, Kunal Ghosh, said the decision to ban Banerjee from campaigning for 24 hours is "atrocious and smacks of authoritarianism".
The Election Commission of India had barred the CM from "campaigning in any manner" from April 12 April 13, for violating model code of conduct (MCC). The poll body said her “highly insinuating” and “provocative remarks” have “serious potential” to cause a breakdown of law and order during the polls. Lashing out at the decision, Mamata said she would stage a dharna in the city on Tuesday to protest against the poll panel's "unconstitutional decision".
Assembly polls in West Bengal began on March 27, and the remaining four of the eight phases of elections will be held between April 17 and April 29. Members of the Trinammol Congress joined Banerjee in slamming the poll panel for its decision on her.
Take action against BJP leaders, urges TMC
The TMC urged the EC to take strict action against BJP leaders who allegedly made inflammatory remarks over the Cooch Behar firing incident that claimed the lives of "four unarmed civilians". In a letter to West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer Ariz Aftab, the party said several BJP leaders, including party state Dilip Ghosh, were "instigating" violence with their warnings of more Cooch Behar-like episodes. Amid the polling for the fourth phase of assembly elections on Saturday, four persons were killed in Sitalkuchi area of Cooch Behar when CISF personnel opened fire allegedly after coming under attack from locals who had "attempted to snatch their rifles".
Citing the first instance, the letter said, "On April 11, 2021, at a rally in Baranagar, Dilip Ghosh said people have seen what happened at Sitalkuchi and warned that if anyone oversteps boundary, the incident of Sitalkuchi will be repeated. An official complaint has already been lodged with the CEO." The letter, signed by TMC MPs Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Derek O'Brien, also has mention of similar remarks made by BJP leaders Rahul Sinha and Sayantan Basu.
It also attached a screenshot of a tweet by BJP vice- president Arjun Singh and said that the saffron party leader had tried to "spread misinformation" by allegedly sharing a photograph of a CISF personnel injured in a langur attack in Jharkhand as a picture taken in Sitalkuchi.
