The Election Commission of India has advised Bengal governor C.V. Ananda Bose against touring Cooch Behar on Thursday and Friday, as it votes on Friday for which its silent period started on Wednesday 6pm.
The commission’s advice came after it observed that Bose’s visit would violate the model code of conduct at this juncture.
The EC wrote to the governor after Bose expressed his wish to personally visit Cooch Behar during the election period to see the situation in person and supervise security arrangements.
Bose expressed his desire to visit Cooch Behar because the constituency has been a focal point of contention since the polls were announced, with reports of disturbances from areas like Dinajpur and Sitalkuchi.
Sitalkuchi dominated the headlines in the last Assembly polls as well. The Cooch Behar pocket saw four youths dying to alleged CISF bullets at a polling booth during the 2021 Bengal elections.
Sources in the EC said the governor had communicated to it about his proposed Cooch Behar tour plans on Thursday and Friday.
In Bengal, three north constituencies — Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar — will vote in the first phase of the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections on April 19.
But because of the silence period having already started on Wednesday evening and the first day of polling set to fall on Friday, the EC advised the governor against a tour coinciding with the polls.
The EC, in its letter to the governor, said that as April 19 would be polling day, no local events could be organised for Bose as outlined in his proposed itinerary.
The EC stressed that the entire district administration and police force in Cooch Behar would be fully engaged in election management on April 18 and 19, and therefore, diverting their attention to protocol and local security cover for the governor’s proposed visit, without an immediately discernible necessity, would disrupt their time-sensitive poll-related duties.
The commission also made it clear that as per Section 126 of the Representation of Peoples Act 1951, the “silence period’’ for Cooch Behar commences on April 17 at 6pm, thereby imposing various curbs.
