Yechury questions timing of EC's campaigning ban in WB, asks if it is to allow PM to address rallies
Questioning the Election Commission's decision to end campaigning in West Bengal from 10 pm on Thursday, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury asked if the poll body had set the time to allow Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address two rallies in the state.
In first such action in India's electoral history, the EC Wednesday ordered campaigning in nine Lok Sabha constituencies in West Bengal to end at 10 PM on Thursday night, a day before its scheduled deadline.
The decision came in the wake of Tuesday's violence between BJP and TMC workers in Kolkata.
"If a ban is intended for 72 hours, why is it starting at 10 pm tomorrow? Is it to allow the two rallies of the PM before that?" Yechury tweeted shortly after the EC's announcement.
Modi is scheduled to address rallies in Laxmikantapur and Dum Dum in West Bengal on Thursday afternoon.
"The decision by the EC to stop campaigning a day in advance is not understood. The first thing being expected by EC was action against the lumpen ...