The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday, 15 April, barred Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) West Bengal chief Dilip Ghosh from campaigning for 24 hours after he violated the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).
According to a notice by the ECI, the BJP chief has been barred from campaigning till 7 pm on 16 April.
The EC notice reads that the poll body has "carefully considered the reply of Dilip Ghosh and is of the considered view that he has violated clauses (1) and (4) of Part I of 'General Conduct of Model Code of Conduct for the guidance of political parties and candidates' and made highly provocative and inciteful remarks, which could adversely impact law and order thereby affecting the election process."
EC's action against Ghosh comes two days after the poll body sent him a notice over his remarks on the killing of four men in Cooch Behar’s Sitalkuchi assembly constituency.
He had allegedly remarked that "if someone crosses limits then you have seen what happened in Sitalkuchi. There will be Sitalkuchi in several places," PTI quoted the poll body's notice.
In response, Ghosh's statement noted, "It was never his intention to make any statement which would be in contravention of the MCC or the Representation of People Act/ Indian Penal Code."
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