West Bengal
Bengal by a day was criticised by the Opposition in unison.
Campaigning for 50 other Lok Sabha seats spread over six other states and the Union Territory of Chandigarh will end on Friday evening. She has already said she would approach the Supreme Court against the EC’S decision after the completion of the polls.
The BJP is trying to make inroads into Bengal to offset possible reverses in its strongholds in northern and western India that helped it in 2014 to become the first party in 30 years to win a majority on its own in the Lok Sabha. West Bengal elects 42 members of the Lok Sabha, behind only Uttar Pradesh (80) and Maharashtra (48).
Banerjee accused the EC of being partial to the ruling party at the Centre and said it was behaving like “BJP’S brother”. She said BJP destroyed the 200-year-old heritage (Vidyasagar statue) of West Bengal and those supporting the party will not be accepted by society.
“Last night we came to know that BJP had filed a complaint with EC so that we can’t hold any meeting after Narendra Modi’s meetings. EC is brother of BJP, earlier it was an impartial body; now everyone in the country says it is batting for the BJP,” Banerjee said .
Banerjee found support from other Opposition parties across the political spectrum. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati accused the election watchdog of acting under pressure and the Congress said the EC had lost its independence.
“Election commission has banned campaigning in West Bengal, but from 10 pm today just because PM has two rallies in the day. If they had to ban [campaigning on the last day], then why not from today morning? This is unfair and EC is acting under pressure,” Mayawati said.
The Congress said the EC was once known for its objectivity, non-partisan stand but it seems it now “takes orders from BJP headquarters”. “The election commission has abdicated its integrity,” Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said, who alleged that the model code of conduct had been replaced by a “Modi Code of Conduct”.
He added: “Time has come to review the process of appointment of election commission. Should it only remain an appendage to the ruling dispensation or is it a constitutional body which is so intrinsically important to our democracy that its appointment requires to be mandated and tapered through a fair, transparent process like in many other cases?” he asked
In Tamil Nadu, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam criticised the EC for curtailing the Bengal campaign. “The EC has one set of rules for the Opposition and another for the ruling party. Highly c o n d e mna b l e , ” DMK president Mkstaling wrote in a Twitter post.
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah backed Banerjee. “The BJP can team up with the EC in West Bengal, they can have a tailor-made campaign designed to fragment & polarise the electorate, they can have all their model code violations overlooked. None of it will matter because on the 23rd @Mamataofficial didi will sweep West Bengal,” Abdullah wrote in a tweet.
Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal said India had never had such a biased EC as the current dispensation. “We condemn the openly biased role played by the Election Commission. The EC has allowed Prime Minister Modi’s election campaigns while stopped others from doing so,” he added.