For the Election Commission of India (EC) in the West Bengal elections, it is a test of credibility, the toughest it has faced in recent times. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) termed it as a handmaiden of the Narendra Modi government while the BJP is also arguing that the EC actions against the TMC are not as swift or stringent as they should be.
The TMC has described ECs decision to ban CM Mamata Banerjee from campaigning for 24 hours as a “black day for democracy”. She will sit in a protest in Kolkata on April 13 against the same and then do two rallies later in the night after the ban ends at 8 PM.
This comes after her rather problematic speeches lately asking for Muslim voters to unite behind her party and later asking people to gherao CRPF forces if they impede voting.
Meanwhile, leaders in the BJP told News18 that the ban should have been even more stringent for at least 72 hours.
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“EC generally bans campaigners for hate speeches. In this case, a blatant communal call was coupled with a threat to the security forces that led to a serious law and order situation in Sitalkuchi where five persons lost their lives,” a BJP leader reasoned.
In the past, EC banned campaigners for longer periods, BJP leaders pointed out. Like in 2019 Lok Sabha elections, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was banned for 72 hours for his “Ali-Bajrangbali” comments, and Mayawati was banned for 48 hours for appealing to Muslim voters to not vote for the Congress.
Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan, and BJP’s Maneka Gandhi were banned for 72 hours and 48 hours respectively in 2019 after Khan made an objectionable remark on Jayapradha while Gandhi asked Muslims to vote for her. EC banned BJP leaders Anurag Thakur and Parvesh Verma for 72 hours and 96 hours respectively during Delhi polls and Sadhvi Pragya Thakur for 72 hours in 2019. “But Banerjee is still getting kid-glove treatment,” the BJP leader told News18.
No action against BJP leaders
The EC is, however, more under fire from the TMC with the CM even saying EC should rename its Model Code of Conduct as “Modi Code of Conduct”. TMC questions why no action was taken against BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari for his comments like “Begum” and “Mini-Pakistan” during the campaigning in Nandigram a fortnight ago. EC did issue him a notice on April 8 but action so far has not happened.
The EC will be under further scrutiny now, after banning the CM, if it does not act against problematic comments made by BJP leaders like Dilip Ghosh and Rahul Sinha after the Sitalkuchi killings.
Ghosh said, “Naughty boys fell to bullets in Sitalkuchi”. It will be repeated if someone oversteps their boundary, he added. Rahul Sinha said, “Eight people should have been killed instead of four.”
“We have given a complaint to the EC. Let us see if they have the courage to act against the BJP leaders like they against the CM,” a TMC leader told News18.
While the EC’s intention to ban Banerjee for 24 hours seems to cool the tempers down in the state after the Sitalkuchi killings and ahead of the Phase 5 of polling, its corresponding lack of action against any BJP leader in the state seems to be adding to the arsenal of the TMCs case that EC is working under the Centre’s pressure.
Sources in EC argued A. Raja was banned for 48 hours for his comment on the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister recently, BJP leader in Assam Himanta Biswa had been banned for 48 hours before it was reduced to 24 hours after he apologised, but no apology has been forthcoming from Banerjee for her comments.
A former senior EC functionary told Moneycontrol, on the condition of anonymity, that EC should act against the BJP leaders who had given inflammatory statements, especially after the Sitalkuchi killings.
“If complaints are not there, EC should take suo moto action. This election is a test of ECs credibility as despite so many forces being sent to the state, violence has happened and statements are flying thick and fast,” the former functionary said.
Getting around the ban
Politicians however have their way around EC bans like Yogi Adityanath went on a temple visit spree in 2019 during his three-day ban, managing to send a message to voters. Banerjee will also sit on a protest at the Gandhi Murti in Kolkata at noon tomorrow along with all senior TMC leaders, an event that will be televised and hence serve her purpose of a campaign.
Update: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee ended her dharna at 3 pm
The party is expected to encash this ban politically along with the Sitalkuchi killings that some perceive to be a political lifeline for the TMC in the middle of the elections. However, BJP leaders believe these are “desperate tactics” and won’t help the TMC like the CM’s wheel-chair campaign.
“Her unpopularity is so huge that nothing can reverse it. The Sitalkuchi incident has emboldened the BJP voters in the state that free and fair voting will happen as the central forces are here to act,” a BJP functionary said.
Political observers meanwhile say EC has not faced attacks of this nature since the 2019 elections when Congress attacked it for protecting the PM and Amit Shah. The election body’s guidelines on COVID-19 protocol also are being openly violated in West Bengal at a time when the country is reeling under a second wave.
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