E-Paper
BJP calls for EC action on Mamata’s audio clip. It’s the fifth demand in last 17 days
The Election Commission has heard increasing number of complaints from the BJP and the TMC since the beginning of electoral season.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday demanded that a Special Investigation Team be formed to investigate a purported audio clip where West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee is heard asking Trinamool Congress (TMC) party workers to hold rallies with the bodies of those who died in firing by Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) on April 10 during the fourth phase of the polls.
In the purported clip, Mamata Banerjee is heard speaking to Partha Pratim Ray, TMC’s candidate from Sitalkuchi, to conduct a rally with the bodies of the four victims. “Don't panic. You should make arrangements for conducting a rally with the bodies the next day. And also consult a lawyer and file a police complaint so that neither the SP nor IC can escape,” she was allegedly heard telling Ray, according to news agency PTI.
HT has not verified the authenticity of the tape.
BJP leader Shishir Bajoria claimed that the authenticity of the clip was confirmed by TMC lawmakers Derek O’Brien and Sukhendu Sekhar Roy. “The goal of the tape was to create further polarisation. As far as the authenticity of the tape is concerned, Derek O'Brien and Sukhendu Sekhar Roy confirmed it while speaking to the media,” Bajoria was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
The Election Commission (EC) has had its hands full with both the TMC and the BJP complaining against each other’s electoral conduct since the beginning of the electoral season.
Here are instances when the BJP wrote to the poll body against Mamata:
1. April 2 - The party wrote to EC claiming that the Bengal CM issued “repeated threats and criminal intimidation” at a public gathering in Goghat, Hooghly. The BJP on the same day, in a separate complaint, demanded action against Mamata Banerjee claiming that she violated election norms in her Nandigram constituency during polling. The delegation was led by Prakash Javadekar, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, BJP general secretary Bhupender Yadav, and the party's national media in-charge Anil Baluni. They alleged that the chief minister sat on dharna when polling was going on while TMC workers pelted stones.
2. April 7 - The Election Commission issued a notice to the Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee for openly demanding votes on communal grounds for Trinamool Congress at a meeting in Hooghly district's Tarakeswar on April 3 after Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi wrote to the poll body.
3. April 9 - EC issued a notice to the West Bengal CM for making “completely false, provocative and intemperate statements” against central forces involved in election duty.
4. April 12 - The commission barred Mamata Banerjee from campaigning for 24 hours after the BJP demanded action against her comments with connection to central forces involved in election duty.
5. April 17: The BJP wrote to EC over Mamata Banerjee’s purported audio clip where the Bengal CM allegedly asks TMC leaders to rally with the dead bodies of those dead in Sitalkuchi polling booth firing incident.
