In All-Party Meeting With State Electoral Officer, TMC Again Raises Concern on Polls During Ramzan

Kolkata: A day after the Trinamool Congress raised apprehensions over elections being held during the month of Ramzan, party leader Partha Chatterjee reiterated the concerns at an all-party-meeting on Monday called by West Bengal chief electoral officer Dr Aariz Aftab.

Chatterjee rued difficulties faced by officers on poll duty apart from voters travelling to the poll booth in the upcoming summer season especially for those who are fasting during Ramzan. “What forces them to continue elections from the April 11 to May 19? How come our state will have voting in seven phases?” questioned Chatterjee.

Presence of chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s cut-outs across Kolkata was discussed in the meeting as BJP leader Jay Prakash Majumdar objected to it. He said that as model code of conduct has been enforced since Sunday, the posters should be removed. “We want to know from the Election Commission that how long it will take to remove the posters,” he asked.

Majumdar, when questioned on PM Narendra Modi’s posters at petrol pumps, admitted that those should be removed too. “If there are pictures of the PM in a public place, then that should be removed as well. No hoardings should be placed in public properties,” he added.

The primary concern for the Congress and the Left was apprehensions on adequate security arrangements. The Congress raised instances when their candidates were threatened during the nomination filing process allegedly by supporters of the ruling party during last Panchayat elections in 2018. The Left, too suggested that more measures should be taken to protect the security of their supporters and candidates.