West Bengal Polls: All Parties Must Refrain From Making Provocative Statements
By A Special Correspondent
First publised on 2021-04-14 11:04:47
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As the poll campaigning in West Bengal gets uglier with both the TMC and the BJP crossing all limits of decency, the Election Commission has its hands full. As complaints multiply, the EC has started taking action. It first banned Mamata Banerjee from campaigning for 24 hours for her appeal to Muslim voters not to divide their votes. The EC said that her appeal violated the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) by making an appeal along religious lines.
It has now banned BJP leader Rahul Sinha for 48 hours for his obnoxious remark that the Central forces should have killed 8 people instead of 4 in Sitalkuchi and has sought an explanation from state BJP chief Dilip Ghosh about his remark that there will be many incidents like Sitalkuchi. Additionally, it has warned Suvendhu Adhikari for his "mini-Pakistan" remark.
While Mamata Banerjee had dubbed the MCC as the Modi Code of Conduct and had said that the EC was acting undemocratically after she was banned, it has to be realized that the institution is not as "extremely compromised" as the TMC thinks. If the BJP leaders made obnoxious remarks after the Sitalkuchi incident and deserved to be banned, Banerjee too made a blatant appeal along religious lines and needed to be checked.
If only leaders from all political parties realize the damage their words and actions do and think a thousand times before uttering foul words, they would ensure that passions are not inflamed and the elections are held peacefully. Mamata Banerjee must realize that her "gherao CRPF" remark was mischievous. It should not have been made by a senior and most respected leader like her.
All parties in West Bengal must resist the temptation of allowing the ongoing elections (four phases still remain) to descend into a free for all. It is their responsibility not to vitiate the atmosphere and allow the people to exercise their franchise without fear. Ultimately, despite the high octane campaign, the bandobast and the charges and counter-charges, only that party is going to win whom the people vote for.
