Bengal CM slams EC, alleges PM rally on polling day will influence 'outcome'
Dec 05, 2022
Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], December 5 : Ahead of attending the G20 all-party meeting in New Delhi on Monday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the Election Commission of offering "VIP treatment" to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a few others by allowing political rallies on election day.
"PM doing rally is illegal on election day. The EC should look into this. If one is holding a political rally on the day of the results, then the result will be what you imagine."
"They are VIPs different treatment for them," Banerjee told the media before boarding her flight from Kolkata.
She also said there was no separate meeting scheduled with the prime minister during her visit to the national capital and other areas.
"No one-on-one meeting arranged this time with PM," Banerjee said.
She refused to directly comment on the use of "lotus" symbol for India's G20 presidency but noted that even if she did not raise an issue on the matter, others have and would.
"They have been using the lotus symbol earlier as well...I have not made an issue. Actually, it is not an issue. But instead of using a political symbol, they would have gone for a national symbol as many countries would be present. If I won't say anything others will."
Banerjee will visit the Ajmer Sharif and Pushkar temple in Rajasthan on Tuesday.
PM Modi has called the G-20 all-party meeting later on Monday.
After India took over the presidency of the G20 for one year from December 1, 2022, heads of political parties were invited to attend the meeting convened by the central government to discuss the way forward as New Delhi plans to showcase the best of Indian tradition and culture.
As per government sources, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president JP Nadda, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Trinamool Congress president and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, Telugu Desam Party chief N. Chandrababu Naidu and Biju Janata Dal president and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik are amongst those who will attend the meeting at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
