Sunil Arora wrapped up his innings as Chief Election Commissioner of India by banning chief minister Mamata Banerjee from campaigning for 24 hours for her calls to minorities not to divide their votes and to women to gherao central force personnel who intimidate them.
Mamata responded to the gag order by declaring she would sit in dharna near the Gandhi statue in Calcutta on Tuesday, the penultimate day of campaigning for the fifth phase of polling on Saturday when 45 seats, including Dum Dum, Bidhannagar and Rajarhat-Newtown, vote.
The ban is in place from Monday 8pm to Tuesday 8pm.
Wednesday will be the last day of campaigning for the fifth phase since the poll panel has widened the silence period to 72 hours from 48 hours after the Sitalkuchi killings.
On Tuesday, Mamata will address two rallies after the ban ends at 8pm, the first at Barasat and the second at Biddhannagar. She will campaign in north Bengal on Wednesday.
Mamata tweeted after the poll panel ban on campaigning: “To protest against the undemocratic and unconstitutional decision of the Election Commission of India, I will sit on dharna tomorrow at Gandhi Murti… from 12 noon.”
Derek O’Brien, the Trinamul Congress leader in the Rajya Sabha, said: “You can ban us but you can’t beat us.”
Monday was the last day in office for Arora, who has had several run-ins with Mamata and her party. On Tuesday, election commissioner Sushil Chandra, who was chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes, is scheduled to take over as Chief Election Commissioner.
Arora, a Rajasthan-cadre IAS officer who retired as Union information secretary in 2016, has faced allegations of favouring the BJP by issuing clean chits to its leaders for intemperate remarks during the Lok Sabha polls and going slow on acting against BJP campaigners for incendiary remarks during the Bengal polls.
Under him, the EC has remained impervious to specific allegations of the vulnerability of electronic voting machines.
Announcing the campaign ban on Mamata, Election Commission secretary Rakesh Kumar said: “Ms Banerjee in her reply has yet again conveniently left out key parts of her speech, perhaps due to selective amnesia….”
Kumar added that the commission was of “the considered view that Ms Mamata Banerjee… has in violation of the provisions of the model code of conduct as well as Section 123(3) & (3A) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, and Sections 186, 189 and 505 of Indian Penal Code made highly insinuating and provocative remarks laden with serious potential of breakdown of law and order and thereby adversely affecting the election process”.
The commission “sternly warns Ms Mamata Banerjee and advises her to desist from using such statements while making public utterances during the period when the model code of conduct is in force”, the order added.
The EC stopped short of filing an FIR against Mamata for alleged violations of the act and the penal code.
