New Delhi: A day after imposing a ban on Mamata Banerjee, the Election Commission on Tuesday barred BJP leader Rahul Sinha from campaigning for 48 hours for his alleged remarks that central forces should have killed eight rather than four people in Sitalkuchi in West Bengal’s Cooch Behar district during the ongoing assembly polls. As per the order from the EC, the ban begins at 12 noon on Tuesday and will remain in force till 12 noon of April 15.
“Commission hereby strongly condemns the above statements made by Rahul Sinha, BJP, and sternly warns him to be careful from using such statements while making public utterances during the period when Model Code of Conduct is in force,” the order from the EC stated.
The development comes after the TMC on Monday urged the Election Commission to take strict action against BJP leaders Rahul Sinha, Dilip Ghosh and Sayantan Basu over their alleged inflammatory remarks over the Cooch Behar incident.
In another development, the Election Commission issued a notice to West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh for his alleged remarks that there would be “Sitalkuchi in several places” after four people were killed when central forces opened fire during polling in Cooch Behar district.
He has been asked to respond to the notice and make his stand clear on his remarks by Wednesday morning. The notice cited Ghosh’s alleged remarks that “if someone crosses his limits then you have seen what happened in Sitalkuchi. There will be Sitalkuchi in several places.”