West Bengal police has arrested the BJP MLAs Sankar Ghosh and Anandamoy Barman along with others after the party gave a call for a 12-hour bandh in the state to protest against alleged rigging and attacks during civic body elections.
Bharatiya Janata Party leaders were arrested while they were marching on the streets of Siliguri in support of the 12-hour bandh.
In Murshidabad today, a scuffle broke out between the BJP workers and the police today in view of the 12-hour bandh in West Bengal.
Further, in the Balurghat area, West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar slammed Trinamool Congress for hampering the spirit of democracy. Here also, the BJP workers clashed with police personnel during protests against alleged violence in the civic polls.
He told ANI today, “Our workers were protesting peacefully, but they are beaten up. The police are playing the role of a cadre for TMC. This is against democracy.”
Meanwhile, State Election Commissioner (SEC) Saurab Das’s meeting with West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday has been postponed to 3.30 pm. Originally, the meeting was scheduled for 10 am today.
Taking to Twitter, Dhankhar informed that the meeting has been postponed.
He further said that it is against the backdrop of “alarmingly disturbing inputs, depicting scenario of violence and lawlessness, with administration in partisan mode, and systemic failure of State Election Commission,” in the election process to Municipalities- Constitutional Bodies under Part IX A of the Constitution.
“State Election Commissioner Saurab Das has been called upon to be fully updated on developments in the election process on February 27 that prima facie indicates failure of democracy,” he said.
“State Election Commissioner Saurab Das has also been called upon to indicate why there is failure of constitutional duty by State Election Commission to hold elections to the Howrah Municipality,” he added.
Voting for 108 municipalities across West Bengal was held on Sunday, during which a clash between Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers broke out.
The BJP West Bengal vice-president Arjun Singh alleged that two Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were vandalized in ward 9 and there was a similar situation across the state.
The party has called a 12-hour statewide bandh for today against alleged rigging and violence in the state’s civic polls. (ANI)
