A day after imposing a campaigning ban on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for 24 hours, the Election Commission on Tuesday, 13 April, banned Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rahul Sinha from campaigning for 48 hours in the fifth phase of Assembly elections in the state, charging him of making “highly provocative statements mocking the human life.”
Taking suo moto cognisance of the matter, the poll panel considered that Sinha, BJP's candidate in the Habra constituency in West Bengal, “violated the provisions of Model Code of Conduct,” announcing that the leader is banned from “campaigning in any manner for the next 48 hours commencing from 12 hours today (Tuesday) till 12 hours on April 15.”
The commission decided to issue this order without giving any prior notice to Sinha due to urgency of the matter.