West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday criticised the Election Commission of India ( ECI) over the dates of byelections to the Asansol Lok Sabha seat and the Ballygunje Assembly seat, saying they clashed with the Class 12 examination schedule.
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Announcing a new schedule for the Higher Secondary Examination in view of the bypolls, Ms. Banerjee said: “Whatever the BJP tells them [ECI], they will do.” Repeated requests by the State government in this regard, including a letter to the Chief Secretary, had fallen on deaf years, she said.
Elections to the Asansol and Ballygunje seats are scheduled for April 12, while two of the exams were to be held on April 11 and 13. Ms. Banerjee pointed that the schools where the exams are to he held would be used as polling centres and to house Central forces. The Chief Minister pointed out that 7.39 lakh students would be taking the exams in the State and the ECI should have taken that into consideration.
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Ms. Banerjee apologised to the students for rescheduling the exams. “There will be no higher secondary examination between April 6 and 15 due to the bypolls,” the Chief Minister said. The examination will begin on April 2 and conclude on April 27 (instead of April 26).
The Chief Minister also urged all the political parties to refrain from using microphones in the areas where elections are being held.
The polls have been necessitated by the resignation of BJP MP from Asansol Babul Supriyo who joined the Trinamool Congress in September 2021 and death of Ballygunje MLA Subrata Mukherjee. Mr. Supriyo is contesting the Assembly election from Ballygunje on Trinamool ticket. The State’s ruling party has fielded actor and former Union Minister Shatrughan Sinha from Asansol. The Left Front has fielded Partha Mukherjee from Asansol and Saira Shah Halim from Ballygunje.