The Leader of Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari said that all booths in Bengal’s panchayat polls must be covered with CAPF.
Statesman News Service | Kolkata | June 24, 2023 10:36 am
The state BJP today demanded a phase-wise panchayat polls for adequate deployment of the Central Armed Paramilitary Force (CAPF) in all booths.
The Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari said that if the State Election Commission (SEC) wants to conduct free and fair elections, then all booths in Bengal’s panchayat polls must be covered with CAPF. He alleged that SEC commissioner Rajiva Sinha is following the chief minister’s orders.
“It is not enough to increase the number of central forces. The voting date should also be extended. The SEC, Rajiv Sinha, is following the CM’s instructions,” said Suvendu Adhikari. The LoP further said, “If voting is to be done in the presence of central forces as in 2013, all rural booths have to be under the control of central security forces. In such a scenario, there is no option but to extend the phases. The state had to pay the money in 2013. But this time the Union home ministry said they would provide the money. The problem lies with Rajiva Sinha. He is not willing to go beyond the will of Mamata Banerjee. There is no solution except to remove the commissioner or appoint a special observer to monitor him.”
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He also tweeted today that the West Bengal police are violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) by distributing scholarship forms among the civic police.
In a major setback to the ruling BJP in Madhya Pradesh, party candidate and state Forest Minister Ramniwas Rawat lost to his Congress rival Mukesh Malhotra by more than 7,000 votes on Saturday in the Vijaypur bypoll.
Congress nominee Manoj Rawat, who had previously won the seat in 2017, managed only 18,192 votes (33.42 per cent). Independent candidate Tribhuvan Singh also played a significant role, securing 9,266 votes (17.1 per cent) and reportedly diverting a substantial portion of Congress' voter base.
The Bharatiya Janata Party’s Sunil Soni triumphed in the Raipur South by-election with a commanding margin of 46,167 votes over Congress candidate Akash Sharma. The BJP candidate secured 89,220 votes, nearly doubling Sharma’s tally of 43,053, including a significant edge in postal ballots where the BJP received 161 votes against Congress' 76