Kolkata: Ahead of the fifth phase of polling on April 17, Election Commission has banned West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to campaign for 24 hours.
No sooner did the Trinamool Congress receive the letter than the furious Mamata Banerjee took to Twitter and said that she will stage a sit-in demonstration in front of Gandhi statue in Kolkata’s Mayo road.
“To protest against the undemocratic and unconstitutional decision of the Election Commission of India, I will sit on dharna tomorrow at Gandhi Murti, Kolkata from 12 noon,” read the tweet of the TMC supremo.
Notably, citing that Mamata Banerjee’s comment can lead to serious ‘law and order issues’ the Election Commission has banned her from campaigning from 8 pm on April 12 to 8 pm on April 13 .
“The Commission also imposes a ban of twenty-four hours on Mamata Banerjee from campaigning in any manner from 8 pm of April 12, 2021, till 8 pm of April 13, 2021,” read the order.
TMC Rajya Sabha MP, Derek O'Brien termed April 12 as a ‘Black Day of Democracy’.
“When the BJP cannot fight with the TMC politically, they are putting a ban at us,” stated Derek.
TMC MP, Kakaoli Ghosh Dastidar stated that sensing defeat, the BJP is using the Election Commission to ban the TMC supremo.
Notably, Mamata Banerjee has time and again alleged that the Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are controlling the Election Commission of India.
Following this comment and also asking the minorities to vote for her, the Election Commission of India had sent her two notices seeking a reply within 24 hours after which the ECI will take action.
The TMC supremo has claimed that it doesn’t matter how many notices ECI sends to her.
According to TMC sources, a delegation will meet the Chief Election Officers (CEO) in Kolkata and will demand action against BJP West Bengal chief Dilip Ghosh, BJP leader Rahul Sinha and West Bengal general secretary Sayantan Basu over their comments on Sitalkuchi firing.
TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee had also urged the ECI to immediately arrest and ban these leaders.
Meanwhile, West Bengal BJP vice-president Jai Prakash Majumdar claimed that ECI is free to take any decision on its own.
“Even Himanta Biswa Sharma was banned from campaigning in Assam ahead of the polls. This is nothing new. Instead of blaming the ECI and BJP the TMC supremo should keep a check on her comments,” claimed the BJP leader.
“In violation of the provisions of Model Code of Conduct as well as Section 123 (3) and (3A) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and Sections 186, 189 and 505 of Indian Penal Code, 1860 made highly insinuating and provocative remarks laden with the serious potential of the breakdown of law and order and thereby affecting the election process,” further read the order.
According to poll analysts by staging dharna, the TMC supremo will get the same mileage that she gets while poll campaigning.
