On Tuesday, Congress said that Rahul Gandhi was supposed to arrive in Kolkata on April 23rd to campaign. The party claims they had waited until 6 pm on April 21st for official approval to hold the events, but it hadn’t arrived, and so they couldn’t get things ready.
Visit cancelled after permission row
Congress insists Gandhi still wants to campaign in West Bengal and will send in a new request for permission for the 25th or 26th, depending on when it’s available.
Shashi Panja, a minister with the TMC, responded by saying all applications for public meetings have to be submitted through something called the Suvidha Portal between two and seven days beforehand. She said this rule applies to everyone, all parties and all events.
TMC cites Suvidha Portal and EC role
Panja also said the state government is only looking after things temporarily (a ‘caretaker mode’ as it’s called) and sent any questions about this to the Election Commission. At the time this was reported, the Election Commission hadn’t said anything.
Here’s a summary of what each side is saying:
Key statements at a glance
– Congress says they didn’t get permission in time
– The party waited until 6 pm on April 21st
– Rahul Gandhi will ask for permission for April 25th or 26th
– TMC mentioned the Suvidha Portal’s two-to-seven-day requirement
– TMC told people to ask the Election Commission
– The Election Commission had not responded yet
This happened just as the first stage of campaigning for the West Bengal assembly elections finished on Tuesday. People are scheduled to vote on April 23rd in 152 different voting areas in the northern and some parts of southern West Bengal.
Why the timing matters
The arguments during the campaign have been about things like illegal immigration, improvements to the area, social welfare programs, and making sure the list of voters is correct. Both the BJP and the TMC have been heavily criticizing each other, and important leaders like Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amit Shah (the Home Minister) and Mamata Banerjee have all spoken at rallies.
Almost 36 million voters will decide the result of this first stage. The Election Commission has sent lots of central government security forces to make sure the voting goes smoothly in areas where there could be trouble. Because of the important candidates in Nandigram and Siliguri, more people are paying attention to these particular places.
This cancellation has made the disagreement between the Congress and TMC within the state even worse. Congress believes the local government, and the police in particular, are being unfairly influenced by politicians when giving permission.
Congress-TMC friction intensifies
The TMC, however, has said that they are just following the rules, and that during the election the Election Commission is in charge. Because of the ‘Model Code of Conduct’ (a set of rules for fair elections) this discussion about the procedures is now even more important.
Everyone is now waiting to see if the new request for permission for Gandhi to visit on April t25th or 26th will be approved. If the Election Commission does give advice, it could affect how parties plan events in the later stages of the election.
What comes next
For voters, the most important thing right now is to go and vote on April 23rd. For the parties involved, the competition now also includes following the rules, dealing with the timelines of the Suvidha Portal, the caretaker government’s procedures, and keeping up the energy of their campaigns in what is a very close election in West Bengal.
