TMC files plaint against BJP leaders visiting BSF official
KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress (TMC) has lodged an official complaint with the district election officer (DEO) of Cooch Behar, alleging violation of model code of conduct (MCC) on the part of BJP leaders, Dilip Ghosh and Sukanta Majumdar, as they called upon a senior BSF official at its sector headquarters at Kharija Kakribari in Cooch Behar.
Partha Pratim Roy, who is the Cooch Behar district president of TMC and also the election agent of the party's candidate Udayan Guha of Dinhata, handed over the complaint to the DEO seeking necessary action.
"BJP is not being able to accept its defeat in the recently concluded Assembly elections and hence are resorting to all sorts of means to disrupt the peaceful polls in Bengal. They are using the different Central agencies to create disturbance in the state. Their meeting with the DIG of BSF in the camp is a conspiracy design," Roy said.
BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh and state BJP president Sukanta Majumdar visited the BSF camp on Wednesday, which was the last day for campaigning for the bypolls. Dinhata in Cooch Behar is one of the four constituencies, which are going to bypolls on October 30. The other constituencies, where by-elections will be held are Gosaba in South 24-Parganas, Khardah in North 24-Parganas and Santipur in Nadia.
Udayan Guha, who happens to be the TMC candidate for by-elections, alleged that the two leaders had visited the BSF camp to seek their assistance in the bypolls. "This is a violation of MCC of the elections," Guha said.
The BJP leadership, however, termed the visit as a 'courtesy call'.
"It has nothing to do with politics or influencing the polls. I am a member of the Parliament Standing Committee on Home Affairs and I usually visit BSF camps, whenever I go to places," Ghosh said.
The TMC has reacted sharply to the Union Home Ministry's recent notification extending the jurisdiction of the BSF in Bengal, Punjab and Assam, where the Central force will be able to frisk and conduct search operations within a larger 50- km stretch instead of the existing 15-km, and has termed it as an "infringement" on the rights of the state and an attack on the federal structure of the country.
