Inside the BJP’s Playbook for Wresting West Bengal

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Billed as the most remarkable state election in recent times, the showdown in West Bengal boils down to two questions in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) camp: who is the David and who is the Goliath in this epic encounter, and can the party cash in on sub-regional equations and what it believes to be a sentiment in favour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in order to dislodge chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s government?

Ask senior BJP leaders in Delhi and they cite Banerjee’s recent injury to drive home the point that the Goliath is now trying to portray itself as the David, a reference to the biblical story of underdog David defeating the giant Goliath in combat.

According to party insiders, the visuals of Banerjee campaigning on a wheelchair after she was injured at a rally in the high-profile Nandigram constituency earlier this month — she has alleged a BJP plot to kill her — appear to be a last and desperate throw of the dice by the chief minister.

“Here is a two-time CM with the muscle power of a well-entrenched cadre, money and resources…(but) the proverbial Goliath suddenly wants to play the sympathy card against a party that was a non-entity in the state with just three seats five years ago,” a BJP leader says, requesting anonymity.

Instead, the BJP says, it is the one that has struggled to find even hoarding space for publicity materials in the state, especially in Kolkata, which is plastered with Banerjee’s face, but is still being projected frantically by the ruling Trinamool Congress as an “outsider” and the dominant aggressor.

Nonetheless, the BJP camp thinks it has multiple reasons for its confidence that it will win Bengal, which has 294 seats. The BJP leadership has set a target of winning over 200 of them.

Replicating UP, Tripura Strategy

Bengal will be to Modi’s NDA II what Uttar Pradesh (UP) was to Modi’s NDA I, the BJP camp believes. In India’s most populous state, which has a 403-member assembly, the party rose from 47 seats in 2012 to 325 seats in 2017. Now, it sees a similar momentum in Bengal. The strategy for the eastern state seems borrowed heavily from UP as well as Tripura, where the BJP had a tough job in hand. But eventually, it ended the Left’s 20-year-old rule in Tripura in 2018, winning 36 of the state’s 60 seats. Significantly, it had drawn a blank five years ago.

A pointer to the “sweep” the BJP expects in Bengal is the response that Modi has been getting in there since 2019, party insiders say, claiming similarities in UP between 2014 and 2016 with people thronging his rallies.

This is said to be the reason why Modi could address as many as two dozen rallies in all in Bengal, rivalling what he did in UP, which has 37% more seats, in 2017. In Bengal, Modi has chosen to attack alleged corruption and nepotism under Banerjee’s watch, factors the BJP feels reflect the ground narrative.

BJP leaders cite smaller pointers too. Like a section of people in Nandigram coming out to counter Bannerjee and the Trinamool’s version of events leading up to her injury. This kind of a reaction is unlikely towards a government that is returning to power, a senior minister and a star campaigner says. Another is “Jai Sri Ram” becoming a slogan “that has come from the people” and a sign of discontent against the Trinamool government, the minister adds. This, the BJP feels, has reflected in the CM’s recitals of Chandi Path to showcase her Hindu identity, and her manifesto dropping a specific section on Muslim welfare, which was there in 2016. Moreover, her increasing personal attacks on Modi only work in the BJP’s favour, as she does not seem to have picked a trick on this front from Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, according to party insiders.

The PM is focusing on promises that the BJP feels are silently ringing a bell among the electorate on the ground — Rs 18,000 pay-out to each farmer in one go under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi plan, Rs 5-lakh medical insurance cover under Ayushman Bharat, the roll-out of ambitious drinking water scheme Har Ghar Jal, and bringing Hindu OBCs (Other Backward Classes) into the reservation net. Banerjee has had to counter this by promising monthly income support for state residents and reservation for some backward Hindu caste groups under the OBC umbrella.

Meanwhile, BJP’s ministers have been told to drill in the point that the state’s infrastructure is stuck in the 1960s and that Banerjee has refused to implement the Centre’s schemes for political reasons and minority appeasement. The law and order plank is being raked up to dent Banerjee’s women voter base.

Countering Trinamool

The BJP is, however, cognisant of the Trinamool’s sub-regional strength. It also remembers its below-par showing in the large pocket of South Bengal even in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, in which it won 18 out of the 42 seats. But 2021 is not 2019. The mood is “all-pervasive” and the party has built upon its 2019 success, BJP insiders reason. This includes wooing the tribal people and the Scheduled Castes (SCs), reaching out to the Dalit Matua community, and BJP president JP Nadda’s promise to include “left out” Hindu castes in the OBC list if the party wins the elections. It hopes this would offset 30% Muslim votes that could consolidate behind the Trinamool, although the Left-Congress-Indian Secular Front bloc is also in the fray.

Divided on the lines of religion, caste and community, Bengal offers a complex challenge of sub-regional politics. Banerjee’s strongest fort is South Bengal with over 90 assembly seats, but the BJP feels the region may have a different pattern of voting for the first time. The North 24-Paraganas and Nadia districts (40 seats) near the border with Bangladesh have the Matua community, who are refugees from Bangladesh, as the deciding factor in 15-16 constituencies. The BJP feels it has an edge with the promise of operationalising the Citizenship Amendment Act, or CAA, once the Covid-19 vaccination is over. The BJP leadership has stressed its commitment to implementing the law that fast-tracks citizenship of Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Christians and Parsis who have arrived in India from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh before 2015. Modi’s planned visit to a Matua temple during his Bangladesh trip, on the first day of polling in Bengal, will be an event high on optics.

The road remains tough for the BJP in South Bengal’s big district of South 24-Parganas, which is the only district where the Trinamool got leads in all 31 assembly segments in 2019. Muslims account for at least 30% of the total population here, and that makes the BJP’s challenge difficult until there is an absolute polarisation of votes. The party is, however, hoping for a turnaround in the key East Midnapore district, which has been a strong citadel of Banerjee. With Suvendu Adhikari, who used to manage these areas for the CM, defecting and being fielded against her from Nandigram, the BJP hopes political equations will change.

The BJP is also trying its best to hold on to its dominance in ‘Jangalmahal’, the forested and interior rural areas of Purulia, Bankura and West Midnapore that contributed to its impressive showing in 2019. Banerjee has launched several cash schemes for tribal people here to regain lost ground. Similar are the expectations from North Bengal, where the BJP won all six Lok Sabha seats in 2019 with support from Rajbanshi indigenous communities in Coochbehar and the namasudras in border districts. Namasudras, including Matuas, are refugees from Bangladesh. For them, the CAA promise is a key factor.

The BJP is also hoping that the Muslim-majority districts of Malda and Murshidabad will side with the Congress again, causing a split in Muslim votes and denting Banerjee’s chances in the process. The hill districts of Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar, however, remain a mystery with the traditionally strong party, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, splitting into two factions. The one led by Bimal Gurung has joined hands with the Trinamool, while the BJP has chosen not to align with any faction.

War of Wits

The BJP won’t cross 100 seats, the Trinamool’s strategist, Prashant Kishor, has said, a claim the BJP sees as a tacit admission of its impending rise. The ruling party is playing up protests inside the BJP over ticket distribution and has alleged low attendance at rallies by BJP leaders. As the battle heats up, some assume the BJP may run Trinamool close, but not win. They think that the BJP will have to be content with a “moral victory” like the Congress claimed to have in Gujarat in 2017. But home minister Amit Shah’s declaration that the BJP will win 200+ seats shows each seat matters. For Modi and Shah, David, or the BJP in battle ground Bengal, beating Goliath paves the road to a third term at the Centre in 2024.

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Morning Digest: Roads to be freed of toll booths in a year, says Nitin Gadkari; EU drug regulator backs AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19 after safety investigation, and more

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India will implement a GPS-based toll collection system and do away with all toll booths within a year, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari informed the Lok Sabha on Thursday. He also shared details of the vehicle scrapping policy, first announced in the Union Budget for 2021-22, according to which the automobile industry in India will see a jump in turnover to ₹10 lakh crore from ₹4.5 lakh crore.

Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde agreed with advocate Prashant Bhushan on Thursday to urgently hear a plea by NGO Association for Democratic Reforms to stay the sale of a new set of electoral bonds on April 1, before Assembly elections in crucial States such as West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.

Top U.S. and Chinese officials offered sharply different views of the world on March 18 as the two sides met face-to-face for the first time since President Joe Biden took office. In unusually pointed remarks for a staid diplomatic meeting, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Communist Party foreign affairs chief Yang Jiechi took aim at each other’s policies at the start of two days of talks in Alaska.

The EU’s drug watchdog said on March 18 it is still convinced the benefits of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine outweigh the risks following an investigation into reports of blood disorders that prompted more than a dozen nations to suspend its use.

The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday passed the Insurance Amendment Bill 2021 that increases the maximum foreign investment allowed in an insurance company from 49% to 74%, amid criticism from the Opposition parties on the clause enabling “control and ownership” by foreign investors.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday forbade judges from making gender stereotypical comments like “’good women are sexually chaste”, women who drink and smoke ‘ask’ for sexual advances or presume that a sexually active woman consented to rape while hearing cases of sexual offence.

Union Communications and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Thursday that climate activist Disha Ravi’s arrest was based on law and order and it is under judicial process. He added that the House should consider “should some people abuse social media internationally to defame India to promote secessionism.”

Former Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) Arvind Subramanian resigned from Ashoka University on Thursday, days after noted columnist and political commentator Pratap Bhanu Mehta’s exit. In his resignation letter, Dr. Subramanian, said he had been “devastated” by “the circumstances involving the ‘resignation’ of Professor Pratap Bhanu Mehta” two days earlier.

In a major embarrassment to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), two candidates announced by the party on Thursday for the Assembly polls from Kolkata have refused to contest on the party’s ticket.

The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed suo motu proceedings before the Delhi High Court on the administration of COVID-19 vaccine and transferred the case to itself. A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde said a similar case concerning the vaccination drive was already pending in the Supreme Court, and the case from the Delhi High Court could be heard along with it.

The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to urgently hear a plea to release and protect over 150 Rohingya refugees reportedly “detained” in Jammu. Chief Justice of India S.A. Bobde agreed to hear the application filed by a member of the Rohingya community, Mohammad Salimullah, represented by advocates Prashant Bhushan and Cheryl d’Souza, on April 25 (Thursday). Mr. Bhushan made an oral mention before the CJI for an early hearing.

The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed the supplementary demand for grants (second batch for 2020-21) but not before significant concerns raised by Opposition leaders on the government’s disinvestment and asset monetisation plans, and rising fuel prices.

If Ishan Kishan was unfortunate to be ruled out of the fourth T20I due to a groin strain, lady luck smiled on his replacement Suryakumar Yadav. The Mumbai cricketer, dropped for the previous outing after not having faced a ball on his debut in the second T20I, grabbed his chance and made it count.

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EC Full Bench Likely to Visit West Bengal on Mar 23 to Review Poll Preparedness

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The full bench of the Election Commission of India (ECI) is likely to visit West Bengal on March 23 to review the preparedness for the ensuing assembly elections in the state, a poll official said on Thursday. The eight-phase elections to the 294-member assembly will begin on March 27. Results will be declared on May 2.

”The full bench of the ECI is likely to visit West Bengal on March 23 to supervise poll preparations. They will hold meetings with senior officials of the state administration, particularly of those areas which are going to polls in the first phase,” the official told PTI. At least 191 candidates have been found eligible for contesting the elections in the first phase, he said.

A total of 172 nominees will contest the elections in the second phase, the official said. The first phase of polling will be held in Purulia, Bankura, Jhargram, Purba Medinipur (Part I) and Paschim Medinipur (Part I).

The second phase of polling will be held in Bankura (Part II), Purba Medinipur (Part II), Paschim Medinipur (Part II) and South 24 Parganas (Part I).

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PM Modi Targets Tribal Votes in Jangalmahal Region, Raises Issues of Deforestation, Naxalism

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Purulia

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Purulia

BJP will have to add on to the support base they built in the region during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls to capture power in the state.

  • Last Updated:March 18, 2021, 18:22 IST
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday raised the issues concerning the Jangalmahal region of West Bengal, a very important BJP bastion where stakes are high for the BJP. He was addressing a rally in Purulia.

The BJP will have to add on to the support base they have built during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections to reach the magic figure to capture the power in the State. That is the reason why Prime Minister gave enough time to address the issues concerning this region, right from deforestation to naxalism and tribals.

Apart from attacking Mamata Banerjee on corruption, poor governance and patronising goondaism, the Prime Minister dwelt in detail about how the Atal Bihari Bajpai government introduced for the first time the ministry for tribal welfare and how his government has introduced new schemes for

the betterment of the tribal community. He was talking straight to the tribals of Purulia and adjoining districts, who have already displayed their support for the BJP.

Prime Minister Modi also talked about naxalism, which had been the main concern for this region, known as ‘Jungle Mahal’, alleging how the TMC had been patronising naxalism so that the people of this region were always at the receiving end.

Citing examples of naxal violence, the prime minister had also accommodated family members of the victims near the stage.

As this entire Jangalmahal area region has a sizable forest cover, the Prime Minister did not forget to talk about the minimum support price for forest produce, addressing those families whose livelihood depends on jungles.

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PM Modi’s Bangladesh trip next week likely to have poll ring to it | India News – Times of India

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NEW DELHI: On March 27, the day West Bengal goes to polls in the first phase, PM Narendra Modi will be in Orakhandi in Bangladesh offering prayers at the Matua temple, a move redolent with intense political symbolism.
Modi will also offer prayers at the Jessoreshwari Kali temple at Satkhira outside Dhaka. Both these events are intended to resonate with voters in West Bengal. On his first visit in 2015, Modi had visited Dhakeshwari temple and offered prayers there, but then Mamata Banerjee had also accompanied him on his trip to Bangladesh. This time the two are locked in an intense political battle for Bengal.
On March 26, Modi will hold talks with Sheikh Hasina and call on President Mohammed Abdul Hamid. He would hold a public event at the National Parade Ground on March 26, Bangladesh foreign minister A K Abdul Momen told journalists. Modi and Hasina are expected to jointly inaugurate the Bangabandhu-Bapu digital exhibition later that day.
Modi will attend the National Day programme of Bangladesh on March 26, as the guest of honour. An MEA press statement said, “This visit is in connection with the commemoration of three epochal events — Mujib Borsho, the birth centenary of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman; 50 years of the establishment of diplomatic ties between India and Bangladesh; and 50 years of Bangladesh’s war of liberation.”
Bangladesh foreign secretary Masud bin Momen said India and Bangladesh would sign three agreements in the areas of disaster management and cooperation.
MEA said, “The visit of the PM to Bangladesh will be the first visit to a foreign country since the outbreak of the Covid pandemic. This highlights the priority India attaches to Bangladesh.”

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Mamata skips meeting with PM on Covid, Bengal urges for more vaccines | India News – Times of India

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KOLKATA: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday skipped a meeting presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with chief ministers of different states on the recent surge in Covid-19 cases in some parts of the country.
Banerjee could not attend the meeting as she was busy campaigning for the state elections, a top state government official said.
Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay attended the meeting that happened through the virtual mode, he said.
At the meeting, Bandyopadhyay raised the issue of the need for more Covid-19 vaccine doses in West Bengal, the official said.
The Covid-19 situation has been deteriorating in some parts of the country, raising concern over a possible second wave.
The Centre has urged the states concerned to step up containment efforts wherever needed.

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In West Bengal’s Jhargram, RSS is Reaching People Where TMC is Unable to

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The dimly lit classroom with wooden benches near the Jhargram Raj College looks like that of any other school. But these are special schools. They are the Shishu Shiksha Kendras, pre-primary informal schools run by the RSS. The teachers in these schools don’t necessarily teach from books, there are games and the children are relaxed.

These schools have had a deep impact in the tribal green belt of Bengal. Just as the Left hold on this area waned and Mamata Bannerjee government pushed several development works in this area, once the hub of Naxal activities, the RSS saw an opportunity. Simmering discontent over land, the need for modern farming techniques and people’s ambition to get good jobs — these were perfect ingredients for the entry of the RSS. Several Hari Sabhas or religious clubs were set up. Student hostels, Ekal Vidyalayas or coaching centres began to crop up.

Wearing gamchhaas over their shoulders, many locals began advising farmers on how to use traditional methods to increase crop output and even cultivate abandoned infertile land. They were the RSS swayamsevaks. And slowly the BJP began to make inroads. It bore fruit when in the 2018 Panchayat polls where the TMC received a jolt. Of the 20 seats in the Balarampur Panchayat Samiti, the BJP won 18. It also swept 7 gram panchayat and two zilla parishad seats in Balarampur that falls in the Jhargram assembly segment.

RSS swayamsevaks began work in the area since 2014, in the spheres of health, education and moral ‘upliftment’ of people.

Water is one of the basic problems in this area. Eighty-two-year-old Lulu Mahato has just had a cataract operation and can barely see. But what he can certainly see is the lack of basic facilities like water and sanitation. “Look at this gutter, it’s so dirty. We don’t get water. Some people come and give it to us, they are the RSS people we know. But suddenly a few days back this tap was set up. We know elections are here.”

Sudhir Gorai, who has come to check on his friend Lulu, agrees. “Yes the TMC government has done a lot of work here. We have seen development. But I see how my family suffers for want of water.”

The RSS and BJP have scored in beginning small. The swayamsevaks saw that providing basic facilities like tube wells and drains would help them reach out to the people of Jhargram. As development came into this area, ambitions rose. The youth want jobs, and the many coaching and training centres have given hope that the technical skill acquired would help them get jobs in big cities like Kolkata.

The TMC came in for another rude shock when in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls when the BJP won the seat. Kunar Hembram is the Jhargram MP. It is believed that the anti-TMC, Congress and Left votes went to the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections and helped the BJP win. Having tasted success, the BJP wants to repeat it in the assembly seats as well. This is why top leaders like Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah and JP Nadda have been campaigning here. But the TMC has now woken up. Mamata Bannerjee, in an obvious reach out to her pet Jangalmahal area, in which Jhargram falls, has promised water supply, free ration at people’s doorsteps and technical education.

Hovering around Sudhir Gorai are a handful of boys in their twenties. They said, “Those who give us jobs we will go for them. That’s all what matters to us. We don’t want to farm, we want to move out of Jhargram.”

The statues of tribal leaders like Sidhu Kanu, who are worshipped as gods in this belt, have been witness to many changes in this area. From being a Naxal stronghold, patronised by the Left to several incident of violence. It has seen development too, when Mamata Bannerjee nurtured this area. The Jhargram Rajbari, or palace, has been transformed into a popular heritage hotel and is a popular tourist destination. But Sidhu Kanu is also seeing some dissatisfaction creeping in. With development comes desire. There are complaints that local TMC leaders don’t let the benefits percolate down. The RSS uses its conventional door to door meetings to reach out, where the state government is unable to. And BJP is hopeful. Maybe Sidhu Kanu will see another change here.

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West Bengal Assembly elections | Abbas Siddique’s ISF announces candidates for 20 seats

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The party said that it announced the names of 20 candidates from among the 26 seats for which it has an alliance with the Left Front

Abbas Siddiqui-led Indian Secular Front (ISF), an alliance partner of the Left Front and the Congress in the State, on March 14 announced the names of candidates for 20 constituencies in the upcoming Assembly elections in West Bengal.

ISF president Simul Soren will contest from Haripal in Hooghly district, while Mohammed Iqbal and Nuruzzaman will be the party’s candidates from Entally and Metiabruz, respectively, it said in a statement.

ISF is yet to announce the names of candidates from Canning Purba, Jangipara, Bhangar, Madhyamgram, Haroa and Mayureshwar — the seats it has identified to fight from as a part of the alliance.

The party said that it announced the names of 20 candidates from among the 26 seats for which it has an alliance with the Left Front.

While the Left Front has given 30 seats to the ISF from its kitty, the Congress, from which the Siddique-led party demanded 15 seats, has agreed to give it only eight from its share.

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BJP Leader Visits Sisir Adhikari at His Residence, Speculation Rife Over TMC MP’s Next Move

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BJP MP Locket Chatterjee on Saturday visited the residence of TMC’s Lok Sabha member Sisir Adhikari, who is also the father of political heavyweight and the saffron party’s Nandigram candidate Suvendu Adhikari, raising speculation that the veteran leader might switch camp ahead of the Bengal assembly polls. Chatterjee, who had lunch at the Adhikari residence at Contai, stressed that it was ”courtesy call”, and Sisir Adhikaris political move was not discussed during the meeting, even as political corridors went abuzz with murmurs that the TMC MP might join the saffron camp during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the state later this month.

Sources told News18 that Locket Chatterjee has invited Sisir Adhikari to PM Modi’s Contai on March 24.

”It was a courtesy lunch. Sisirda is a senior politician and the Adhikari family is synonymous with Medinipur (of which Nandigram is a part). He had once praised my Lok Sabha speech. We share good rapport. He requested me to visit him again,” the BJP leader said. She, however, clarified that the BJP would welcome the TMC MP with open arms if he decides to join the party.

Sisir Adhikari, on his part, told reporters that two of his sons are BJP members, and ”Locket visiting his residence should not surprise anyone. Why should anyone have their eyebrows raised when a leader makes a courtesy visit?” Veteran TMC leader Sougata Roy, when approached, said ”Sisirda has largely remained inactive in the recent times…We will urge him not to join the ’dal badal’ (party changing) game, given his advanced age and ailments.” BJP spokesperson Shamik Bhattacharya claimed that all of Purba Medinipur wants the Adhikari family patriarch to join the saffron camp.

Notably, Suvendu Adhikari and his brother Soumendu, who also joined the BJP two months ago, were not at home during the BJP MP’s visit to their residence. Their other brother, Dibyendu — also a TMC MP – was present at the lunch meet.

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Civic police in West Bengal cannot do any duty in uniform for 72 hours prior to poll: EC | India News – Times of India

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NEW DELHI: The Election Commission has directed that persons from the civic police or green police or student police in West Bengal, besides not being engaged in any election-related duty, shall also not be allowed to perform any duty in uniform for 72 hours prior to polling as well as on polling day and the day after.
In a letter written to the chief electoral officer (CEO) of West Bengal on March 1, the EC stated, “No person from the civic police or green police or student police shall be engaged in any election-related duty. Further they shall not be allowed to perform any duty in uniform P-3 days till P+1 day”. ‘P’ here stands for polling day. This effectively means that the curbs will be in place for 5 consecutive days.
The letter asked the CEO to inform all the concerned stakeholders including candidates, political parties for compliance and information.
EC sources said barring the civic police or green police or student police from any duty in uniform just prior to polling, on polling day and the day after was meant to ensure that any unnecessary confusion or fear in the mind of voters was not created.
Civic police or green police or student police are made up of civic volunteers who are deployed in aid to the state police. Members of the civic police do not have any legal police powers like arrest and search and merely aid the state police in maintenance of order and traffic control.
Some opposition parties in West Bengal had approached the EC seeking restraint on the involvement of civic/green/student police in election-related duties as they were seen as identified with the ruling party. EC had accepted this suggestion.
Now, going a step further, EC has also asked them to not perform any duty in uniform for a period of five days starting from 72 hours before polling day and ending 24 hours after polling day.

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