Vote comes before alliance : Campaign curbs by EC to help BJP, says chief minister

Mamata in Purbasthali, East Burdwan.: Swapna Barua

Meghdeep Bhattacharyya   |  TT  | Calcutta   | 18.04.21: Mamata Banerjee on Saturday alleged that tweaks in poll campaign timings, attributed to Covid-19 safety concerns by the Election Commission of India, were aimed at inconveniencing her party Trinamul because the BJP did not have much chance in the 114 seats left for the final three phases.

The chief minister, at a Purbasthali rally in East Burdwan, expressed displeasure at the poll panel’s decision, after it on Friday ruled out clubbing the last three phases of the polls, choosing instead to ban campaigns between 7pm and 10am. The commission also extended the no-campaign window before the date of polling from 48 hours to 72 hours.

“We asked the Election Commission of India to reduce the number of phases (by clubbing the three final phases of the eight-phase Bengal election), but they did not listen to us,” said Mamata.

The poll panel’s new guidelines were announced after an all-party meeting in Calcutta on Friday, where Trinamul had proposed the merger of the last three phases and the BJP opposed it.

Anup Sarkar, 24, a migrant hotel worker in Pune, and his fiancee Mallika Samaddar, a political science undergraduate, cast their votes in Santipur in their wedding finery on Saturday and proceeded to get married at a Kali temple. “It (the wedding) was a big decision, and we decided to do the honours on democracy’s big day,” said Arup, who returned recently from Pune because of the fresh Covid surge in Maharashtra and is unsure of his return.: Subhasish Chaudhuri

The CPM too was not in favour of changes in schedule.

“But you reduced the scope of the campaign. Because the likes of (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi do not have much more left by way of campaign programmes. Because Amit Shah’s rallies have been witnessing a poor turnout. You have restricted only my meetings with that 7pm restriction,” added the Trinamul chief, who has conducted many poll events across the state after 7pm.

Mamata said at least 120 hours have been taken from her in the end of the campaign.

“Also, the 72-hour deadline for closure of the campaign ahead of every phase began from this fifth phase itself. So 24 extra hours ahead of the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth phases, besides that additional 24 hours (because of the commission’s ban on her campaign), that’s 120 hours of possible campaign taken away. Understood?” she said.

Mamata rued the lost days, underscoring how she took no leave since the elections were announced (on February 26) and minimised wastage of time even after sustaining her leg injury at Nandigram on March 10.

“So many of my days they wasted, my mothers and sisters. I have not taken a day’s leave from the campaign, even after that injury and hospitalisation, without heeding medical advice…,” said the wheelchair-bound chief minister. “Amaro koshto hoy re bhai (Even I feel pain, brother).”

Women show their voter I-cards at a polling booth in Sukna, on Siliguri outskirts, on Saturday. As many as 45 Assembly seats across Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Kalimpong, Nadia, North 24-Parganas and East Burdwan voted in the fifth phase of Bengal polls that were largely peaceful with sporadic clashes. The electoral fate of leaders such as Gautam Deb and Bratya Basu of Trinamul, Asok Bhattacharya of the CPM and Samik Bhattacharya of the BJP were sealed on Saturday.: Passang Yolmo

She accused the BJP of knowing it cannot win many of the 114 seats left, which is why it was no longer interested in elaborate campaigns.

“Now, the BJP knows that the seats left are not where they can win, so they want the campaign period shortened, so that Trinamul cannot hold its programmes,” she said.

She then dared the BJP — and the agencies at its central government’s disposal — to stop all the campaigns and have the voting conducted on Sunday itself.

“Trinamul does not need to do anything more anyway. People will bless us with votes and hand you a drubbing even if all the remaining votes take place tomorrow (Sunday),” said Mamata.

“You snatched my days of campaign. You are curbing my democratic rights. You are stifling our voice,” she added.

Mamata again accused Modi and his party of turning  a blind eye to Covid-19 concerns for the sake of the Bengal elections, worsening the pandemic situation exponentially in the state. “None other than Narendra Modi, none other than the BJP will be responsible for worsening of the Covid-19 outbreak in Bengal,” she said.