Would urge Election Commission & PM to hold byelections now as COVID rate is low: Mamata Banerjee

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said that she is expecting the Election Commission to direct byelections to be held in Bengal soon. She said that when the Assembly polls were held in the state, the COVID-19 rate was 33 per cent, while it has come down to 3.61 per cent now. “It is best to not wait for the third wave, but to conduct it soon,” she said. Banerjee said that if the EC decides to not act if the Prime Minister does not order byelections, then she would expect that the PM too feels that way and asks for the elections to be held right away.

Banerjee herself is to contest election from a seat within six months of taking over as the CM. The seat from where state agriculture minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay had contested – Bhawanipore – is also lying vacant as he has resigned from the Assembly from the seat. Also, Kajal Sinha, the Trinamool candidate from Khardah, passed away before the results were out. Two other seats in Murshidabad also lie vacant as candidates from these seats died before the elections. State finance minister Amit Mitra too is to contest from a seat.