Poll Campaigning For 9 West Bengal LS Seats Suspended Due to Violence During Amit Shah’s Roadshow

The Lok Sabha seats that will not witness any election campaigning starting tomorrow are- Dum Dum, Barasat, Basirhat, Jaynagar, Mathurapur, Jadavpur, Diamond Harbour, South, and North Kolkata.

New Delhi: The Election Commission on Wednesday suspended poll campaigning in nine parliamentary constituencies in West Bengal from April 16 10 pm onwards till the conclusion of polls.

The Lok Sabha seats that will not witness any election campaigning starting Thursday are- Dum Dum, Barasat, Basirhat, Jaynagar, Mathurapur, Jadavpur, Diamond Harbour, South, and North Kolkata.

Election Commission: This is probably the first time that ECI has invoked Article 324 in this manner but it may not be last in cases of repetition of lawlessness and violence which vitiate the conduct of polls in a peaceful manner. pic.twitter.com/j8oG4cwP6V

— ANI (@ANI) May 15, 2019

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The poll body has invoked Article 324 in wake of violent clashes in north Kolkata on Tuesday that broke out between TMC and BJP supporters during BJP national president Amit Shah’s roadshow.

The poll body observed, “The Commission is deeply anguished at the vandalism done to the statue of Vidyasagar. It is hoped that the vandals are traced by the state administration.”

Further, the ECI said:

EC: ADG CID, Rajiv Kumar stands relieved and attached to MHA. He should report to MHA by 10 am tomorrow.Principal Secy,Home &Health Affairs WB govt stands relieved from his current charge immediately for having interfered in process of conducting polls by directing WB CEO. pic.twitter.com/2AOEbIX7uR

— ANI (@ANI) May 15, 2019

In the meantime, the chief secretary will look after the Home Department, the ECI added.

WHAT HAPPENED 

During the violent clash between members of the TMC students’ union and BJP supporters during Shah’s roadshow, the Vidyasagar College premises were vandalized and a bust of key Bengal renaissance figure Ishar Chandra Vidyasagar was destroyed.