Election Commission bars Mamata from campaigning for 24 hours
KOLKATA:
Trinamool Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee termed the Election Commission’s ban on her campaigning as undemocratic and unconstitutional and said she will sit on a protest in front of the Gandhi Statue at Esplanade from noon on Tuesday. The Commission on Monday barred the TMC chief from campaigning for the elections for a period of 24 hours. The ban will be effective from 8 pm of April 12 to 8 pm of April 13.
“To protest against the undemocratic and unconstitutional decision of the Election Commission of India, I will sit on dharna tomorrow at Gandhi Murti, Kolkata from 12 noon,” Banerjee tweeted immediately after the poll panel’s directive banning her from campaigning for 24 hours on Monday over model code violations.
Banerjee, who is contesting the elections from the Nandigram Assembly constituency, was scheduled to address four election rallies — two in Nadia district and two in North 24 Parganas on Tuesday.
TMC Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien termed the EC’s move as “Black Day of democracy”. He also accused the poll panel of being “Extremely Compromised”.
“Always knew we were winning Bengal,” Derek tweeted. “BJP has lost in all the four phases of the Assembly elections (that have been conducted till now). Mamata Banerjee’s voice cannot be silenced by a ban. Her voice is the voice of 10 crore people (of Bengal),” he wrote in Bengali on the micro-blogging site.
TMC vice-president Yashwant Sinha tweeted: “We always had a doubt about the impartiality of the EC. But today it has shed whatever pretence it had. Now it is clear that EC is acting at the behest of the Modi/Shah and under their direct order. Every institution of democracy is compromised today. What hope do we have?”
Senior TMC leader and the party nominee from Kolkata Port constituency Firhad Hakim also took to Twitter and wrote: “EC imposes a ban on Hon’ble CM @MamataOfficial from campaigning in any manner over the next 24 hrs Today is a Black Day for democracy They can ban her but they can’t take her out of the hearts of people.”
The poll panel’s order cited two separate notices to Banerjee on April 7 and April 8, and her subsequent replies, which, according to the Commission’s sources, were unsatisfactory.
On her speech which had alleged religious overtones, the EC said Banerjee has “selectively chosen” parts of her speech in her reply dated April 9 and “did not mention anything on the context of key parts of her speech”. The order said in her reply, on remarks against the Central forces, Banerjee has “yet again conveniently left out key parts of her speech, perhaps due to selective amnesia”.
After four people were killed in firing by the Central forces in Sitalkuchi on Saturday –– the day of fourth phase polling — Banerjee had described the incident as “genocide” conducted by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel manning the polling station in Cooch Behar district.
On her reported remarks against Central Armed Police Forces, Banerjee told the poll panel that she had only called upon the voters, specifically voters who are women, to protest democratically by ‘gherao' if and when somebody, including the forces, created any obstruction in their right to vote.
“Gherao is one of the democratic ways of registering public protest and accepted, and there is no reason why gherao should be considered as illegal. Be it noted that the multi-dimensional word ‘gherao' has been a legitimate entry in the political lexicon of West Bengal since the late 1960s, and in recent years, more frequently than not, the word has been used to connote peaceful Satyagraha against authorities by silent victims of a situation,” she said.
The order reproduced portions of her speech to drive home the point that she had violated the model code, provisions of the Representation of the People Act and the Indian Penal Code.
The poll body ruled that she had violated the Model Code of Conduct by making “highly insinuating and provocative remarks laden with a serious breakdown of law and order and thereby affecting the election process”.
CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty said: “Can provocative speeches made by BJP leader Dilip Ghosh be stopped? Will the Commission take action against Rahul Sinha and Sayantan Basu for their inciting and provocative remarks? If there is no action against them then the Commission's role cannot be deemed as impartial.”
It has been learnt that Banerjee will take part in a campaign rally in support of Sujit Bose in Bidhannagar after the ban ends on Tuesday. She will also hold a rally in Barasat later in the evening.