West Bengal Election: Mamata Banerjee on strike, the politics of the Election Commission's decision

Posted on 13th Apr 2021 by rohit kumar

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has staged a sit-in near the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Kolkata on Tuesday afternoon against the twenty-four-hour ban on election campaigning by the Election Commission.

 

However, they have not been able to get the army's permission for this till now. This area belongs to the army.

 

On Tuesday morning, TMC sent a letter to the army for permission to picket, but till writing this report, the army had not made any decision on that letter.

 

An army spokesperson said, "Such permission cannot be given in such a short time because some fixed procedure has to be followed for this."

 

On the other hand, on this protest of Mamata, BJP has taken a dig at them and said that it does not suit any Chief Minister to come on the road against the decision of the Election Commission in this way.

 

State BJP president Dilip Ghosh said that "Mamata should not have been banned for twenty-four hours but till the elections are over".

 

The opposition Congress and CPM have also criticized Mamata's sit-in. However, he has also raised questions about the impartiality of the Election Commission banning election campaigning.

 

What is the matter?

On Monday, the Election Commission banned her election campaign after Mamata Banerjee's remarks against the central forces and her alleged religious accents.

 

The commission said in its order, "The commission condemns such statements that can cause serious problems of law and order across the state and advises Mamata Banerjee that the model code of conduct is effective while advising public expressions Avoid such statements. "

 

In the order of the commission, the 'major parts' of his speech have been mentioned.

 

Accordingly, he said, "I request my minority brothers and sisters to fold hands and not let the minority votes be split after listening to the devil who is taking money from BJP. He makes many communal statements and fights between Hindus and Muslims. Sets on fire. "

 

In response to a 'show cause notice' against her alleged statement against the Central Armed Police Forces, Mamata Banerjee said that she had only appealed to voters, especially women, that if anyone, including the Armed Forces, created a bottleneck in their franchise, they would Demonstrate democratically by 'siege'.

 

He argued, "Ghera is a democratic way of recording public demonstrations and there is no reason to believe it to be illegal."

 

The Commission had earlier given Mamata a 'show cause notice' on both these issues. But because their answer was not satisfactory, it was decided to ban their election campaign.

 

Mamata had announced to sit on a dharna in one of her tweets after the decision of the Commission on Monday night. Mamta herself and her party TMC have termed the decision of the Commission as undemocratic and unconstitutional.

 

Mamata reached the picket just before noon in her fixed time. A temporary tent was put up for them at the protest site. There was neither TMC leader nor worker with him nor party flags or banners were put up on the protest site.

 

Mamata had to hold four rallies on Tuesday. But now because of this ban, at least two of his election rallies have to be canceled.

 

After the end of the ban period at eight o'clock, she will address two rallies.

 

On the other hand, from Union Home Minister Amit Shah to Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, today there are roadshows and rallies in Kolkata and surrounding areas.

 

Meanwhile, state BJP president Dilip Ghosh has demanded his resignation from the chief minister, accusing Mamata of spreading excitement and communalism. He says that a ban should have been imposed against Mamata till the end of the elections.

 

Speaking to the media, Dilip Ghosh said, "I had demanded the commission to ban Mamata Banerjee's election campaign. She is taking to the streets against the Supreme Court, Parliament, and constitutional institutions. All this grace to a chief minister. Do not give. He should resign from his post immediately. "

 

Ghosh alleges that Mamata is responsible for the death of five people in Sheetalkuchi in the Cooch Behar district.

 

On the other hand, the CPM and Congress have welcomed the decision on Banerjee and termed her sit on the sit-in wrong. But at the same time, he has also questioned the fairness of the Election Commission.

 

CPM leader Sujan Chakraborty says, "The ban has been imposed only in the context of the show cause notice given to Mamata. But can such action be taken against state BJP president Dilip Ghosh or leaders like Sayantan Basu and Rahul Sinha as well If not, then the questions on the fairness of the Election Commission will certainly arise? "

 

However, the Election Commission, taking action against Rahul Sinha on Tuesday, has imposed a 48-hour ban on his campaigning. Also, a response has been sought from Dilip Ghosh till Wednesday morning.

 

Senior Congress leader Abdul Mannan says, "If the commission has to prove its impartiality, then it should also take action against the Prime Minister, Union Home Minister, and BJP's state president."

 

State Congress President Adhir Chaudhary has termed the Mamata Banerjee government as weak and said that if they had been the government, they would have arrested the BJP leaders who had made inflammatory statements and sent them to jail.

 

He says, "The state government has not taken any action against the BJP leaders. Now they should not do politics by putting ghee in the fire through dharna."

 

Chaudhary also lashed out at the Election Commission, saying, "The Commission has failed to conduct a peaceful election. The culprits should be severely punished after conducting a CBI inquiry into the firing of Sheetalkuchi."

 

Adhir said that the 24-hour ban on campaigning is quite humiliating for the Chief Minister. But a senior TMC leader says Adhir Chaudhary may have forgotten that elections are being held in the state and the police administration is under the control of the commission and not the chief minister.

 

Prof. Samiran Pal, the political observer, says, "Mamata should respect the ban of the commission. But the possibility of increasing the ban on her against the dharna cannot be ruled out."