Guv cancels Cooch Behar visit after TMC’s complaint to EC
Times of India | 19 April 2024
Kolkata: Governor C V Ananda Bose on Thursday called off his Cooch Behar visit hours before he was to leave after the Election Commission’s advice against such a trip following an outcry from the Trinamool Congress. In a statement, Bose said he was "calling off his north Bengal visit," and would not "allow anyone to use him as a pawn on the political chess board".
TMC on Thursday filed a complaint with the EC alleging that the governor was "illegally interfering in the ensuing Lok Sabha polls in the state and attempting to visit poll-going areas on both silent day and polling day".
The governor’s statement read: “My priority is to be with the people of Bengal. My focus is to fight against violence in the state, particularly during elections. My field visits are for these purposes, but there is an attempt to politicise the governor’s office. I will not let anyone lower the dignity of the office of the governor. I will not allow anyone to use me as a pawn on the political chessboard... Under the Constitution, no one can restrict the movement of a governor. However, I do not want to get involved in the unsavoury political controversy around me. I am available to the people in the peace room over email/telephone 24x7. Because of unsavoury political implications, I am calling off my visit to north Bengal today.”
TMC, in its complaint to EC, said: “As you are already aware that during the silent period, any sort of political meeting and/or campaign is strictly prohibited. Further, during the silent period, all political functionaries, leaders and politically exposed persons who are not voters of poll-going constituencies, are mandatorily required to leave such constituencies. Therefore, the governor ought not to visit Alipurduar today and tomorrow, as the same may adversely affect the level playing field of ongoing elections... This is also because the governor is known to conduct meetings with BJP leader (s) during his visits to north Bengal and the same would tantamount to interference with the ensuing elections.”