Campaigning in WB curtailed

Following the Kolkata violence on Tuesday, the Election Commission (EC), last night, has curtailed campaigning in West Bengal, pertaining to which electioneering for the seventh and last phase of Lok Sabha elections will end at 10 PM tonight.

Notably, polling will take place for nine LS seats in the last phase on Sunday.

The constituencies where EC has curtailed campaigning are – Dum Dum, Barasat, Basirhat, Jaynagar, Mathurapur, Diamond Harbour, Jadavpur, Kolkata Dakshin and Kolkata Uttar.

It is for the first time that such an action has been taken using constitutional powers of the poll panel, said the Deputy Election Commissioner Chandra Bhushan Kumar, addressing a press conference in New Delhi.

The Commission also ordered the removal of State's Principal Secretary (Home) Atri Bhattacharya and Additional Director General, CID, Rajeev Kumar from their posts. 

The EC said that Bhattacharya has been removed for having interfered in the process of conducting elections by directing the state chief electoral officer, which he was not supposed to do.