TMC chief Mamata Banerjee was banned from campaigning in West Bengal for next 24 hours after the Election Commission ruled that her remarks violated the poll code. The Chief Minister was charged with violating the law by making comments about Muslim voters and allegedly inciting voters to revolt against central security forces.
The ban, which is in effect until 8 p.m. on Tuesday, is the final order of outgoing Election Commissioner Sunil Arora, and comes halfway through the Bengal election, with four more rounds of voting remaining in an intense campaign pitting Mamata Banerjee against a galaxy of BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Election Commission served the Bengal Chief Minister, 66, with two notices last week, alleging that her responses revealed “selective amnesia.”
She was questioned about her speeches on March 28 and April 7, in which she allegedly accused central forces of intimidating voters and urged women to fight back or surround security personnel. “Who gave them so much power that the central police are threatening women while denying them the right to vote? I saw the same thing in 2019 that I saw in 2016 “During the March rally, she stated.
According to the election body, she made “highly objectionable remarks” about the Central Reserve Police Forces (CRPF) in Cooch Behar.
In response to the ban, Mamata Banerjee reacted by declaring a sit-in in protest of the ban. “I will sit on dharna tomorrow at Gandhi Murti, Kolkata, from 12 noon to protest the Election Commission of India’s undemocratic and unconstitutional decision,” she tweeted.
