EC halts Bengal Governor’s Cooch Behar trip on poll eve
Poll body says Ananda Bose’s programme will violate Model Code of Conduct and disturb poll o cials and the police; it feels there’s no ‘imminently known’ need for the tour on April 18, 19
Taking a tough stance, the Election Commission (EC) on Wednesday advised West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose to halt his plan to tour Cooch Behar district on April 18 and 19, saying that it would violate the Model Code of Conduct.
Cooch Behar is set to vote in the rst phase of the Lok Sabha election on April 19. Campaigning ended on Wednesday evening, marking the beginning of the “silence period” before voting.
EC sources said the commission felt there was no “imminently known” requirement for the Governor
to visit the place, and that such a tour would disturb polling ocials on the eve of the election. “Under [the] Model Code of Conduct and being poll day, no local programme can be organised for the Governor as proposed in his issued programme,” the EC noted in its communication to the Oce of the Governor.
It added that the entire district administration and police force would be fully occupied in election management, and would have to divert from those timebound duties if they were required to provide any protocol and security cover for the Governor.
Silence period
Under Section 126 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, the “silence period” brings in a multitude of restrictions and a higher level of enforcement by poll authorities.
In March, the ruling Trinamool Congress had lodged a complaint with the EC against the Governor for allegedly interfering with the poll process. In a letter to the EC, the Trinamool said the Raj Bhavan had created a new ‘Log Sabha’ portal to listen to the grievances of voters and directly connect with them during the election.