West Bengal Election 2021: After Mamata Banerjee, Election Commission bans BJP’s Rahul Sinha from campaigning for 48 hours

The Election Commission has banned BJP’s Rahul Sinha for 48 hours from campaigning.

Hardening its stance on instances of poll code violations in West Bengal, the Election Commission today barred BJP leader Rahul Sinha for 48 hours from campaigning. The EC imposed a ban on Sinha from campaigning in any manner for the next 48 hours commencing from noon today till noon on April 15 over his remarks on Cooch Behar violence.

Sinha, a BJP candidate from the Habra constituency had made a controversial statement, saying that the security forces should have shot 8 people instead of four. He claimed that the central forces shot four people just to showcase or send a message. He also alleged that an 18-year-old boy was shot dead in public for supporting BJP and the leader of those killers is Mamata Banerjee.

Notably, Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh had earlier said that more Sitalkuchi like incidents may take place if ‘naughty boys’ try to take the law into their hands. “The naughty boys, who thought that the rifles of the central forces were just for a show, will not dare to repeat the same mistake after seeing what happened in Sitalkuchi. This will happen in the whole of Bengal. If anyone dares to take the law into his hands, this will happen to him also,” he had said.

Earlier yesterday, the EC imposed a 24-hour ban on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over her communal outreach during one of her rallies. She had urged Muslims to unite and vote for the TMC. After the EC’s decision, Mamata Banerjee is sitting on dharna at Gandhi Murti, as a mark of protest against the decision. The duration of the ban imposed on Mamata Banerjee ends at 8 pm today. The EC had issued two notices to Banerjee before imposing the ban.

Campaigning for the fifth phase of polls ends tomorrow while voting will take place on April 17.