July 8th 2023.
Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal, Suvendu Adhikari, has strongly demanded the implementation of either President’s Rule or Article 355 in the state in the wake of the recent violence in the rural polls. On Saturday, Adhikari had a meeting with the state election commissioner Rajiva Sinha where he revealed that he had received calls from Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP National President JP Nadda. Both leaders assured Adhikari of their serious consideration towards the restoration of democracy in the state.
Adhikari further said that he has asked the state election commissioner to review the CCTV footage and videography of the polling booths and to conduct a fresh round of voting, if evidence is unavailable. He also highlighted the need for a National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe, to understand how such a large number of bombs and firearms were procured during the elections.
The Opposition Leader also criticized the state election commissioner for working under the influence of Mamata Banerjee. His statement came after two BJP workers from Cooch Behar, Madhav Biswas and Chiranjeet Karmi, died on Saturday. Adhikari further said that he is willing to do anything to restore democracy in the state and has called for a protest at the residence of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Kalighat.
Sukanta Majumdar, state BJP president, also wrote a letter to Union Home Minister urging for central intervention. Union Minister Anurag Thakur also criticized Mamata Banerjee for not being able to oversee an election without killings and chaos. He went on to say that Bengal’s bomb culture is a shame for India.
In reaction to all this, the TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh accused Adhikari of going ‘mad’ and suggested that Article 356 should be first implemented in Manipur.
The violence in West Bengal saw 11 deaths and the surfacing of videos of the violence. This has created a huge uproar in the state and has put the ruling party under pressure to take serious action and restore democracy in the state.
[This article has been trending online recently and has been generated with AI. Your feed is customized.]
[Generative AI is experimental.]
