Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose has been advised to cancel his proposed visit to North Bengal's Cooch Behar on April 18 and 19. The advice came from the Election Commission, which pointed out that the first phase of election is due on April 19, and with the imposition of the 48-hour silence period from this evening, the visit would be a violation of the Model Code of Conduct.
It is a standard order of the Commission that the moment the silent period begins, VIPs, leaders and political workers who are not voters of the constituency concerned, should exit.
This is not only to ensure free and fair election but also to see that there is no extra workload on the police and security forces, who will be in charge of ensuring security for the visiting VIP.
The Commission's order came weeks after the state's ruling Trinamool Congress wrote to it, accusing the Governor of interference in the election process.
"Restrain Mr. CV Ananda Bose, the Hon'ble Governor of the State of West Bengal from running a parallel electioneering system of so-called reporting of complaints and supervising the elections under the name and style of "Log Sabha," the Trinamool had told the Commission in its letter.
Cooch Behar, one of the 18 seats won in the state by the BJP in 2019, goes to polls in the first phase. A stronghold of the Forward Bloc for over three decades, the seat now appears a BJP bastion. Six of its seven assembly seats had given majority to the BJP in 2021, amid the Trinamool's sweeping victory.
The BJP is now trying to retain the seat, dominated by voters from the Rajbanshi community. It has fielded its sitting MLA from the seat -- Nishith Pramanick, who is also a member of the community,
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