Bengal Campaigning Cut Short By A Day : EC
Amid a sense of violence in West Bengal, Election Commission cuts short the campaigning period by a day. Few officials, who have indulged in malpractices, have been summoned, or transferred.
A “silence period” is a period of time in which no party or candidate can hold any public meetings or spread any election matter through electronic media. The Election Commission (EC) has said that this silence period in West Bengal will begin a day early for 9 Lok Sabha seats. It was initially scheduled for Friday (17th May). now it will begin at 10pm on Thursday (16th May).
Two reports were presented to the EC. The report said that on the surface, everything looks fine, but there were feelings of tension and violence from the district administration and police. The EC said that they took this decision because there was an atmosphere of fear and violence in these polling areas. This decision was taken after the BJP President Amit Shah’s roadshow was attacked. They claim that this was done by the All India Trinamool Congress.
Mamata Banerjee, the founder of the All India Trinamool Congress said that this directive did not actually come from the EC, but from Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. This was probably the first time that the EC has put an early end to campaigning.
