E-Paper
Law and order in Bengal not conducive to polling in 7 assembly seats, says state BJP
In the March-April polls, the BJP bagged 77 seats while the Trinamool Congress (TMC) won 213. However, polls were held in 292 of the state’s 294 seats as two TMC candidates died of Covid-19 in Murshidabad district before the polls.
The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) West Bengal unit on Wednesday officially informed the central leadership in Delhi that the situation in the state was not conducive to polling in the seven assembly seats that are lying vacant since May.
Bengal BJP leaders held an organisational meeting during the day and informed the central leadership that they cannot organise campaigns as post-poll violence is continuing.
Bengal BJP’s chief spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said, “The Election Commission of India sought our party’s opinion on holding assembly polls and by-polls in Bengal. BJP central leaders asked for a feedback from the state unit. We said our workers are facing threats and our leaders are being arrested on various charges. Campaigns cannot be held under these circumstances.”
“We have not said polls should not be held. That decision will be taken by the ECI,” Bhattacharya added.
In the March-April polls, the BJP bagged 77 seats while the Trinamool Congress (TMC) won 213. However, polls were held in 292 of the state’s 294 seats as two TMC candidates died of Covid-19 in Murshidabad district before the polls.
Two TMC candidates from North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas died of Covid-19 after the polls and it was found that they had won.
Though the BJP wrested 77 seats, its score came down to 75 as two legislators resigned from the assembly to retain their Lok Sabha seats. One of them is Nisith Pramanik who took oath as Union minister of state for home affairs during the cabinet reshuffle on July 7.
The seventh seat where polls will be held is Bhawanipore in south Kolkata. It is chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s old seat but this year she contested from Nandigram in East Midnapore district and was defeated by her protégé-turned-adversary Suvendu Adhikari who is now leader of the opposition in the state assembly. Adhikari won the Nandigram seat in 2016 and was made a cabinet minister.
State power minister Sovandeb Chattopadhyay contested the Bhawanipore seat and won it. However, he stepped down so that Banerjee can contest again and return to the assembly. To continue as chief minister, she has to win a seat within six months from the date of announcement of the poll results.
Since the Left parties and Congress could not win even a single seat, the contest in these seven seats is likely to be bi-polar.
The TMC is keen to face the polls. “The ECI should announce the election schedule by August 31. Only four months are left. The assembly polls and by-polls can be held as these seats are located in areas where the Covid-19 pandemic is under control,” Banerjee said on Monday.
TMC leaders said Lok Sabha member Saugata Roy and Rajya Sabha member Sukhendu Sekhar Roy will move the ECI in Delhi later this week.
