Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rahul Sinha courted controversy soon after his 48-hour ban period ended Thursday. The Election Commission (EC) had banned him from campaigning for 48 hours for violating the poll code.
“If central forces were attacked, they would again shoot. The statement, which I had made, has now been echoed by a poll panel observer. I am telling yet again. If central forces are attacked and people are obstructed from casting their votes, central forces should open fire. It doesn’t matter who gets killed ... The main objective is that the polling should be peaceful and violence-free,” Sinha said while addressing a rally at Habra in North 24 Parganas on Thursday afternoon.
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The BJP leader was earlier banned for 48 hours - from 12pm on Tuesday to 12pm on Thursday – for his remarks on the Sitalkuchi firing incident, in which central forces shot four persons dead allegedly in self-defence on April 10 during the fourth phase elections in Cooch Behar district.
“This man doesn’t have respect for human life. He talks all nonsense. He knows that he is going to lose and is hence talking through his hat to grab attention. We will bring this to the notice of the EC and urge the panel to ban him for the entire poll period till April 29. He is not fit to speak in public,” said Jyotipriyo Mullick, state minister and senior Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader.
{{/usCountry}}“This man doesn’t have respect for human life. He talks all nonsense. He knows that he is going to lose and is hence talking through his hat to grab attention. We will bring this to the notice of the EC and urge the panel to ban him for the entire poll period till April 29. He is not fit to speak in public,” said Jyotipriyo Mullick, state minister and senior Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader.
{{/usCountry}}The EC on Thursday also banned Dilip Ghosh, BJP’s president in West Bengal, from campaigning for 24 hours for his remarks on Sitalkuchi firing.
The poll panel also sent a notice to another senior BJP leader Sayantan Basu for his remarks on the same incident and has asked him to explain his stand within 24 hours.