West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been banned from campaigning for 24 hours over speeches that the Election Commission’s statement of violating the poll code.
In a tweet, she wrote, “To protest against the undemocratic and unconstitutional decision of the Election Commission of India, I will sit on dharna tomorrow at Gandhi Murti, Kolkata from 12 noon.”
Election Commissioner Sunil Arora’s final order comes half-way through the Bengal election, with four more rounds of voting left in an intense campaign.
The Election Commission served two notices to the Bengal Chief Minister which said her replies to them betrayed “selective amnesia”.
She was asked to explain her speeches on March 28 and April 7, allegedly accusing central forces of intimidating voters and urging women to hit back or surround the security personnel.