Mamata Banerjee to be on dharna in Kolkata to protest EC’s ban on her campaign for 24 hours

She called the decision "undemocratic & unconstitutional".

Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee will sit on a dharna in Kolkata on Tuesday to protest the Election Commission banning her from campaigning for 24 hours starting 8 PM tonight.

On Monday evening, after the letter from the EC’s ban was sent, Banerjee took to Twitter to say: “To protest against the undemocratic and unconstitutional decision of the Election Commission of India, I will sit on dharna tomorrow at Gandhi Murti, Kolkata from 12 noon.”

Banerjee has been banned by the Election Commission of India from campaigning in the state for 24 hours for “violating” election rules. She has been accused of violating the EC’s model code of conduct with her remarks on Muslim votes and her comments allegedly telling people to protest against Central forces who are in the state for the ongoing Assembly polls.

The order banning her from campaigning for 24 hours has come on the last day when outgoing Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora is in charge of the poll body. Sushil Chandra is to take over as CEC from tomorrow.

Banerjee was served two notices last week. The EC had asked her to explain her comments at campaign rallies of March 28 and April 7, in which the Trinamool chief allegedly accused the Central forces of intimidating voters and urged women to “gherao” them. Earlier, the EC had asked her to explain her comments on what the poll body deemed as “openly demanding votes on communal grounds” while campaigning in Hooghly district on April 3.

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