West Bengal election: EC bans BJP leader Rahul Sinha from campaigning for 48 hours

New Delhi, Apr 13: Election Commission of India on Tuesday imposed a ban on BJP leader Rahul Sinha from campaigning in any manner for next 48 hours over his remarks on the Cooch Behar firing incident in which four locals lost their lives. The EC's ban starts from Tuesday noon till 12 pm on April 15.

Rahul Sinha had allegedly said on Monday that the central forces, if deemed fit, could have shot dead more than four persons in the district in its bid to thwart attempts of vote rigging.

Sinha, who was in the Habra area of North 24 Parganas, told reporters, "Miscreants sheltered by TMC supremo (Mamata Banerjee) are shooting innocent BJP supporters in polling booths. Her goons are taking away the voting rights of comon people. The central forces did the right thing by opening fire on these miscreants."

He further went on to say that "the central forces, in its effort to stop rigging, could have shot dead more than four maybe seven or eight - if necessary". His remarks drew sharp reactions from various political parties.