Kolkata/New Delhi: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said her government had informed the Election Commission (EC) that the state was prepared to hold the pending by-elections to seven Assembly seats as the COVID-19 situation in the poll-bound areas were largely under control.
Talking to the mediapersons at Nabanna, Banerjee said: "I was going through the report on Covid prepared by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and there are some areas in the city where not a single Covid case has been reported for quite some time. Across the state, about 800 cases are reported daily while in Kolkata it is around 75 to 80 per day."
Banerjee stated that the ECI had wanted to know whether the state was ready to hold the Rajya Sabha election. "The Chief Secretary, in his reply to the letter of ECI, had said the Covid situation in Bengal was under control. So, both the Rajya Sabha election and the by-elections to seven Assembly constituencies could be held," added Banerjee. Two seats in Rajya Sabha fell vacant after MPs Dinesh Trivedi and Mukul Roy resigned.
Asked whether Trinamool Congress was scared of the by-election as claimed by the BJP, Banerjee said: "Not us! But, the BJP is scared of the by-election. As per the Constitution, the by-election should be held within six months unless there is an emergency. Our demand to hold the election is not illegal," she said adding "BJP knows that they will be defeated in every election in Bengal. No more shouting, they should cover their lips with leucoplast."
Meanwhile, a six-member delegation of Trinamool MPs met the Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra in New Delhi and submitted a memorandum, urging him to hold the by-elections in seven Assembly constituencies in Bengal. The delegation comprised MPs Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Saugata Roy, Kalyan Banerjee, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar (all Lok Sabha MPs) and Sukhendu Sekhar Roy and Derek O' Brien ( Rajya Sabha MPs).
Addressing a press conference later, Bandyopadhyay said in April the positivity rate of Covid cases was 33 per cent which had come down to less than 2 per cent at present. "Under such a situation, there was no harm to hold the by-election," the MP stated.
He said the Chief Election Commissioner had listened to the TMC delegation and the meeting had ended on a positive note. Chandra said he was gathering reports of the Covid situation from 20 Assembly constituencies across the country where by-elections were due.
By-polls will be held in Jangipur, Shamshergunj, Khardah, Gosaba, Dinhata, Shantipur and Bhowanipore.