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'Didi is agitated because...': Shivraj Singh Chouhan takes jab at Mamata
"Assembly poll bugle has been sounded in West Bengal. A BJP wave is prevailing there. Mamata 'didi' is frightened and furious too," the MP chief minister said.
Madhya Pradesh chief minister and BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan took a jab at his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee on Saturday when he said that the TMC supremo was 'frightened and furious' ahead of her state's assembly elections.
"Assembly poll bugle has been sounded in West Bengal. A BJP wave is prevailing there. Mamata 'didi' is frightened and furious too," the MP chief minister said.
The Election Commission (EC) on Friday announced the dates of polling and results for four states - West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, and the union territory of Puducherry.
West Bengal's polling procedure is the most dragged out, spanning over a month and consisting of eight polling phases.
CM Mamata Banerjee was quick to question the EC's decision to prolong the state's election procedure, especially since states like Tamil Nadu and Kerala have been allotted a single day for their polling and Assam will only have three phases.
“The district of South 24 Parganas is a TMC stronghold. Hence elections have been scheduled there on three days. Has this been done on the directions of Amit Shah and Narendra Modi? Is it that after wrapping up the elections in other states, they want to play a month-long game here?” she asked.
“If elections can be held in Bihar and Assam in three phases, then why are they being held in eight phases here? Who will be benefitted? The ECI should be more rational,” she continued.
Her comments drew the ire of former BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha. “She is agitated because eight-phase polling will ensure peaceful polling, not the bloodbath we always witness. If she is so confident about having mass support it should not make any difference is polls are held in 28 phases,” he said.
The EC clarified that the eight-phase polling in the state was necessary since the mobilization of resources and manpower was necessary.
“There has been a 31% increase in polling booths in WB, and the eight phases in WB have been mandated since the mobilization of resources manpower is necessary. In Bihar, the Commission had also done the same...,” an EC official said.
