E-Paper
EC bars Bengal BJP chief for 24 hours for ‘inciteful remarks’
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday banned Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s West Bengal chief Dilip Ghosh from campaigning in the state for 24 hours for his “highly provocative and inciteful remarks” on the Sitalkuchi firing incident, in which four people were killed as polling was underway last week
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday banned Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s West Bengal chief Dilip Ghosh from campaigning in the state for 24 hours for his “highly provocative and inciteful remarks” on the Sitalkuchi firing incident, in which four people were killed as polling was underway last week.
A day after violence broke out during fourth phase of polling in Cooch Behar district on April 10, Ghosh had said at a rally in Baranagar in North 24 Parganas that “there will be Sitalkuchi in several places”.
Four people were killed in firing by Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel in Sitalkuchi. While the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) alleged the firing was unprovoked, the poll watchdog and central forces said it was in “self-defence” as the security personnel at the polling booth were under attack by a mob.
On Sunday, the TMC filed a complaint against Ghosh for his statement, prompting the ECI to seek his response.
“The commission sternly warns Dilip Ghosh and advises him to desist from using such statement while making public utterances during the period when Model Code of Conduct is in force and imposes a ban of 24 hours...,” the ECI order said, adding that the “highly provocative and inciteful remarks” can “adversely impact law and order thereby adversely affecting the election process”.
The ban for violating the Model Code of Conduct is applicable from 7pm Thursday till 7pm Friday, April 16, the order stated.
Ghosh, when asked about the ban, said on Thursday he will take the time off campaigning to rest. “The ECI ordered whatever it thought was right. I will stay at home and take rest. I was not getting proper sleep and time to have a proper meal because of the campaigning,” he said.
The TMC, however, said that Ghosh should have been banned for at least 72 hours.
“Today (Thursday) was a holiday. He will eat sweets. He should have been banned for 72 hours,” said chief minister Mamata Banerjee in an interview to ABP Ananda on Thursday evening.
Ghosh isn’t the only leader to have been banned from campaigning by the poll panel as the state began voting in eight phases on March 27.
On Monday, Banerjee too was barred from campaigning for 24 hours by the ECI for allegedly appealing to Muslim voters to unite and urging local women to surround central forces if they create disturbances. The TMC called the decision unfair and Banerjee protested in Kolkata on Tuesday.
BJP leader Rahul Sinha had been banned earlier this week from canvassing for the party after he said “not just four, but eight people should have been killed by central forces in Sitalkuchi”. TMC defector and Banerjee’s rival in Nandigram constituency Suvendu Adhikari was, too, warned by the ECI to desist from making communally charged statements.
Forty-five constituencies will vote in the fifth phase of polling in Bengal on April 17. Voting will end on April 29, and results counted on May 2.
