POLLS MAY BE ANNOUNCED IN MARCH 1ST WEEK: MODI IN ASSAM
Modi visits Assam and Bengal, suggests EC may announce elections in first week of March
GUWAHATI/KOLKATA: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday suggested that the schedule for this summer’s assembly elections could be announced in the first week of March even as he flagged off new projects in Assam and West Bengal, two of the battleground states where polling is due in April-may.
“I know you are waiting for the election...since last time it (poll schedule) was announced on March 4 (2016), this time it could be announced around that time. It’s the Election Commission’s job and it will take a call. Whatever time I get in the interim, I will try keep coming to meet you all,” he said at a meeting in Assam’s Dhemaji. “If we consider March 7 as the date of announcement, whatever time I get...i will try tirelessly to return among you,” he added.
Chief election commissioner Sunil Arora and election commissioners Sushil Chandra and Rajiv Kumar have visited Assam, Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and the Union Territory of Puducherry, where polls are likely to be completed before May-end.
In Assam, Modi accused past governments of neglecting the state, apparently hitting out at the Congress. He highlighted work done by the BJP government led by Sarbananda Sonowal. In West Bengal, he called for “ashol paribartan (real transformation)”, sharpened his criticism of the Trinamool Congress and accused it of corruption.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday suggested that the schedule for this summer’s assembly elections could be announced by the Election Commission in the first week of March, even as he flagged off new projects in Assam and West Bengal, two of the battleground states where polling is due in April-may.
“I know you are waiting for the election...since last time it (poll schedule) was announced on March 4 (2016), this time it could be announced around that time. It’s the Election Commission’s job and it will take a call. Whatever time I get in the interim, I will try keep coming to meet you all,” he said at a meeting in Assam’s Dhemaji.
“If we consider March 7 as the date of announcement, whatever time I get...i will try tirelessly to return among you,” he added.
To be sure, EC is an autonomous constitutional authority responsible for administering election processes in India.
Chief election commissioner Sunil Arora and election commissioners Sushil Chandra and Rajiv Kumar have visited Assam, Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and the Union Territory of Puducherry, where polls are likely to be completed before May-end. The dates and the number of polling phases are yet to be announced as the commission is still deliberating on the matter.
During his third visit to Assam in a month, Modi dedicated
to the nation three major projects in the petroleum sector worth over ₹3,222 crore, inaugurated Dhemaji Engineering College and laid the foundation stone for Sualkuchi Engineering College, carrying on with his development push evident during his previous visits as well.
“Despite immense potential, previous governments treated the north bank of Brahmaputra (in Assam) in a step-motherly manner. Connectivity, hospitals, educational institutions or industry was not a concern of earlier governments,” Modi said at a public meeting at Silapathar, apparently hitting out at the Congress. “Such bias was done away with after the arrival of the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) government led by Sarbananda Sonowal (in 2016),” he added.
Among the oil and gas projects, he dedicated the INDMAX unit at Indian Oil Corporation (IOC)’S Bongaigaon refinery to the nation. INDMAX is an indigenously
developed technology of IOC to produce a high yield of LPG and high-octane gasoline from petroleum fractions.
The Congress hit out at Modi, calling him a “migratory bird” who visits the state often but does not solve any problem. “Why did he not come when the state was suffering from flood? Why did he not come when five youngsters were gunned down by police during the anti-caa (Citizenship Amendment Act) movement (in December 2019)?” Assam Pradesh Congress committee president Ripun Bora asked.
In West Bengal, Modi called for “ashol paribartan (real transformation)”, while sharpening his criticism of chief minister Mamata Banerjee and her ruling Trinamool Congress. He also flagged off the extension of the city’s north-south Metro corridor from Noapara to Dakshineshwar along with a slew of other railway projects. It was his
second public rally in the eastern state this month.
At a public rally in Hooghly district, around 50 km north of Kolkata, he came down heavily on the TMC over alleged corruption and alleged that the TMC government was not allowing development programmes in the state. “Development of Bengal is not possible till the time there is syndicate rule, reign of extortionists, culture of cut money, and the administration gives shelter to goons. Voices are being raised from every corner demanding ashol paribartan,” he added.
“Paribartan” was the main slogan of the TMC in 2011, the year it ended the 34-year Left Front rule.
“Modi has raised false and baseless allegations...bjp is not in power. But their workers and leaders have already started extortion. If BJP comes to power it would be devastating,” said TMC MP Saugata Roy.