Hummingbird News Desk
KOLKATA, 15 JULY: The chief minister Mamata Banerjee today said that her government has informed the Election Commission that the state was prepared to hold the pending by-elections to seven assembly seats as the COVID-19 situation is these poll-bound areas are largely under control.
She said on 29 April, the last date for Assembly poll, the Covid-19 pandemic cases rose up to 35.5 per cent but today within two months “we have been able to reduce it to 1.5 percent.”
“So I think by-polls in seven Assembly segments can easily be held as these segments are isolated and not confused,” she said.
She also said in West Bengal as on date there are 835 Covid cases and in Kolkata 80 cases. “If I contest from Bhawanipore, I have gone through the reports of some of the wards of Bhawanipore where zero Covid cases are.”
The chief minister said that the Centre has asked state government’s permission for holding two Rajya Sabha polls and “our Chief Secretary has already written to the Centre that we are in a position to hold the Rajya Sabha poll in the state Assembly. We recently also had the Assembly session.”
When asked about the Oppositions’ unwillingness to hold by-poll, she said, “It’s the BJP who are opposing the by-poll because they are afraid of losing the election.”
She also said it’s the norm of EC to hold by-polls within six months and “we are not asking any favours from EC.”
Meanwhile, six Trinamul Congress MPs both from Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha met the Chief of the Commission of India today.
Trinamul Rajya Sabha MP and party’s national spokesperson Derek O’ Brien, Rajya Sabha MP and party’s chief whip in Rajya Sabha Sukhendu Shekhar Roy, Leader of Trinamul Parliamentary Party in Lok Sabha,Sudip Bandopadhyay, Dum Dum MP Saugata Roy, Barasat MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and Lok Sabha chief whip Kalyan Banerjee met the Election Commission regarding the holding of by-elections in seven Assembly constituencies two of which are due since general Assembly election.
The constituencies are Bhawanipore, where chief minister Mamata Banerjee will contest as she will have to win within six months to retain her chief minister ship.
The six other constituencies are Kardha, where the Trinamul candidate Kajal Sinha who later declared winner but passed away due to Covid just before the results were published
The other constituencies are Jangipur and Shamshergunj in Murshidabad district where a Congress and RSP candidates passed away due to Covid and elections cannot be held in April 2021.
In Gosaba, the sitting MLA Jayanta Naskar recently passed away. In Shantipur (Nadia) and Dinhata (Cooch Behar) the BJP MPs contested the Assembly poll but after winning the Assembly poll they decided to remain as MP and the MLA seats in these places remain vacant.
Meanwhile, Dum Dum MP Saugata Roy today lashed out at the Centre for promulgating ordinances against the labours of Ordinance Factory. He said in wake of corporatization of the Ordinance factory, labours have declared strike but by promulgating ordinances the Centre has declared that going for strike is punishable offence and may be jailed for two to three years and those who will instigate or fund a strike would also be punished.
Tags: #MamataBanerjee #AssemblyBypolls #ChiefMinister #ElectionCommission
