Published 20:52 IST, February 27th 2021
'Opp'n doesn't know what to speak': Prakash Javadekar counters cries over WB poll schedule
The Congress & TMC had questioned the Election Commission's poll schedule for West Bengal and Assam asking why polls needed to be conducted in 8 & 7 phases.
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Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on Saturday slammed former Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan's aspersions around the marathon West Bengal polls saying that the Opposition had no idea about what they were saying. Blaming the lengthy polls on the deteriorating law and order situation under the Mamata Banerjee government, Prakash Javadekar said that the decision was based solely on the Election Commission's analysis.
"Today, Prithviraj Chavan has raised concerns on Election Commission and Adhir Ranjan has supported it. The Opposition doesn't know what to speak. Secondly, it's solely EC's decision. Because of Mamata the situation is out of hands today, elections are being held in 8 phases," he stated.
Congress, TMC allege 'nefarious plan' in EC poll schedule
, Prithviraj Chavan questioned the Election Commission's poll schedule for West Bengal and Assam asking why polls needed to be conducted in 8 and 7 phases respectively as opposed to the single-phased polls in other states. Alleging that there was a 'nefarious plan', the Congress leader stated that if voting could take place in about 404 seats (Kerala-140, Tamil Nadu-234, and Puducherry-30) in a single phase then why did Assam and West Bengal (420 seats) require 7-8 phases.
If voting for Kerala-140, Tamil Nadu-234 and Puducherry-30 (total 404 seats) can be conducted in a single phase, why Assam-126 and West Bengal-294 (total 420 seats) require 7 & 8 phases?
— Prithviraj Chavan (@prithvrj) February 26, 2021
Are there any nefarious plans??? #ELECTIONS2021 #ElectionCommissionOfIndia
The Congress leader's suspicions come in line with the allegations leveled by Mamata Banerjee earlier in the day who claimed that the EC had designed the poll schedule as per the 'terms of the BJP.' The TMC Supremo also went on to allege that the saffron party was 'misusing' the Election Commission and using it to dictate its terms based on the party's rallies in Bengal.
On this, political parties including the Left Front headed by the CPI(M) have blamed Mamata Banerjee for the lengthy polls in the state, remarking that districts needed to be divided in such a way to ensure the availability of enough security personnel across the poll-bound regions. "For 8 phases Mamata government should answer the reason. We have been in power so so long but never have elections happened in so many phases. It's divided into 8 phases considering the lack of personnel and for the ease of political parties," said CPI(M)'s Md Salim.
Elections to the 294 seats in West Bengal will be held in 8 phases across 1,01,916 polling stations, from March 27 to April 29. The counting of votes will take place on May 2.
20:51 IST, February 27th 2021