A BJP delegation comprising Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Health Minister J.P. Nadda on Wednesday urged the Election Commission to declare West Bengal a “super-sensitive State”, and demanded that Central forces be deployed in all polling stations there.
BJP general secretary Bhupendra Yadav and Kailash Vijayvargiya were part of the delegation that apprised EC officials of their demands.
Briefing the media after the meeting, Mr. Prasad said, “We have requested the EC that West Bengal should be declared super-sensitive. And have also demanded that Central forces should be deployed at all polling booths in the State.”
He said the party had also requested the poll panel to transfer those police officers whose electoral impartiality is questionable as well as the withdrawal of former Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar from election duty.
The BJP is trying to make inroads into the Trinamool Congress’s bastion State (West Bengal), which has 42 Lok Sabha seats.
In 2014, the Trinamool Congress won 34 seats, the Congress four and the BJP and the CPI(M) two each in the State.
The State assumes importance for the BJP as it aims to win a sizeable number of seats there.
The State is one of three that will see a seven-phase poll. The BJP delegation also alleged that Congress chief Rahul Gandhi broke the Model Code of Conduct and complained to the poll panel regarding the same.
“The party has requested the Election Commission to take action against Rahul Gandhi for levelling unverified allegations against the Prime Minister in Ahmedabad on Tuesday, though the model code of conduct is already in effect,” Mr. Prasad said.