Chief minister Mamata Banerjee will appeal to the Election Commission of India to withhold campaigning from 10 to 20 October so that people can enjoy the festive days in an undisturbed manner.
Bypoll in four Assembly seats namely Dinhata in Coochbehar, Santipur in Nadia, Gosaba in South 24 Parganas and Khardah in North 24 Parganas will be held on 30 October.
The commission said that the last day to submit nominations is 8 October. The last day for scrutiny of nominations is 11 October. The last day to withdraw the nomination is 16 October.
In Gosaba and Khardaha, two TMC MLAs died, necessitating the election. On the other hand, two MPs Nishith Pramanik and Jagannath Sarkar resigned from Dinhata and Shantipur.
“There should be no disturbance during the Durga Puja days. Campaigning for bypolls can continue before and after the pujas. For instance, campaigning can be done from 21 to 27 October. I will appeal to the commission to consider this. After the bypoll, other elections will also be held,” said Miss Banerjee at Nabanna today.
Extending her wishes before pujas, Miss Banerjee said that the state government has already lifted the night restrictions from 11 pm to 5 am to enable night-long pandal hopping. “One can visit the pandals and take a look at the deity from outside. Wearing masks and using sanitisers are mandatory. One should enjoy the puja well but Coid restrictions should also be kept in mind,” she said.
Miss Banerjee further said that the commission has given permission to provide assistance under the Lakshmir Bhandar scheme to all districts for the months of September and October barring the four bypoll-bound districts
of North and South 24 Parganas, Coochbehar and Nadia.
Assistance will be provided to these four districts after the polls in November. Again, the commission has also given permission to hand over Rs 50,000 to all clubs. The state will conduct 24 hours monitoring during the festive period, she added.