India News | BJP Urges EC for More Forces in Bhabanipur, Accuses Mamata Banerjee of Misuse of State Machinery

New Delhi, Sep 15 (PTI) The BJP on Wednesday urged the Election Commission to deploy maximum security forces in Bhabanipur, alleging that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is misusing state machinery to intimidate voters and win the by-polls in the assembly seat.

Banerjee is contesting from Bhabanipur after she lost from Nandigram constituency in the assembly polls held earlier this year.

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The party also urged the election commission that TMC leader Firhad Hakim be "debarred" from participating in the poll process and removed as Kolkata municipal corporation chairman till the conclusion of the by-elections, alleging that he is trying to incite communal violence in the constituency.

"Since she (Mamata) is anticipating her defeat in the election, she is misusing the state machinery... We met the election commissioner and demanded that strictest action be taken against the misuse of state machinery by her," senior BJP leader Arun Singh, who led the BJP delegation to the Election Commission, told reporters after the meeting.

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The BJP delegation comprised party leaders Locket Chatterjee and Swapan Dasgupta.

Singh alleged that Hakim, a close confidant of Banerjee, is trying to incite communal violence with his "objectionable" statements and has threatened that the BJP leaders will be beaten if they visit the constituency.

"We have submitted to the Election Commission video clippings of Firhad Hakim's objectionable remarks... We have demanded that maximum number of security forces should be deployed to ensure a free and fair election at Bhabanipur assembly constituency," Singh said.

BJP will "definitely" win if free and fair by-polls are conducted at the Bhabanipur assembly constituency, he asserted. PTI PK

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)