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West Bengal polls: EC heat on Bengal BJP leaders over ‘provocative’ remarks
The development came a day after the poll watchdog barred West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday barred Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rahul Sinha from campaigning for 48 hours, issued a notice to party’s state chief Dilip Ghosh and warned senior leader Suvendu Adhikari for their comments during campaigning for the ongoing West Bengal polls.
The development came a day after the poll watchdog barred West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee for allegedly asking Muslim voters to unite and urging local people to surround central forces if they create disturbances. Sinha and Ghosh had remarked about the killing of four people during polling in north Bengal last week while Adhikari had passed communally charged comments during canvassing in his high-profile seat of Nandigram, which went to the polls on April 1.
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ECI banned Sinha for violating the model code of conduct and the 1951 Representation of the People Act for his “provocative statements mocking human life and inciting the forces”.
“The central forces should have killed eight persons instead of four in Sitalkuchi. The central forces should be issued a showcause notice as to why they have killed only four of them,” Sinha said on April 12, according to the ECI order. The ban on Sinha began at 12pm on Tuesday and ends at 12pm on April 15.
The poll panel also issued a show cause notice to Ghosh for his remark on April 11, when he said: “If someone crosses his limits then you have seen what happened in Sitalkuchi.There will be Sitalkuchi in several places. Be careful.” The state BJP chief has been given until 10 am on Wednesday to respond to the notice. In another order, ECI warned BJP candidate from Nandigram, Suvendu Adhikari, for his March 29 remarks that “if people vote for Begum there will be mini Pakistan”. Adhikari was allegedly referring to Banerjee, his rival in Nandigram
