Siliguri/ Baisnabnagar, April 23: Senior TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee on Tuesday alleged the BJP "forced" the Election Commission to organise the Lok Sabha elections over eight phases in West Bengal despite the scorching heat so that its top leaders could campaign well in the state. Addressing an election rally in Matigara in Siliguri in support of TMC's Darjeeling candidate Gopal Lama, Banerjee said a similar thing happened during the 2021 assembly elections when polling was held over eight phases, following which a new wave of the pandemic struck the state.

"The BJP-led government at the Centre had in 2021 forced the EC to hold an eight-phase assembly election in West Bengal with scant regard to the threat posed by the pandemic, which was raging at that time. You all know what followed -- another wave struck and took away so many lives. Who is responsible for the loss of lives?" Banerjee said. "Amid the scorching heat, the EC at the behest of the BJP organised seven-phase polls this time so that BJP leaders from Delhi can get an edge in campaigning. The seven-phase polls are being held so that PM Narendra Modi and Amit Shah can campaign before every phase. But their lies will be rejected by people," he added. ‘We Are Not Safe’: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee Alleges BJP Targeting Her and TMC Leader Abhishek Banerjee

TMC has pitted Lama against incumbent BJP MP Raju Bista, who is seeking to retain the seat for a fourth consecutive term for his party. Describing Lama as the "bhumiputra" or son of the soil, Banerjee called Bista a "migratory bird". He alleged that Bista did not help the people during the pandemic and stayed back in Delhi, while TMC activists supported the people in every possible way during that time. He also accused the BJP of not fulfilling its promise of including 11 Gorkha ethnic groups in the Scheduled Tribe list.

Banerjee claimed the BJP's performance in the first phase of the elections was poor, and it would be no different in the subsequent phases. Darjeeling will go to the polls in the second phase on April 26. Later, addressing a rally at Baisnabnagar in Malda, Banerjee said that neither the Congress MP of Malda Dakshin nor the BJP MP of Malda Uttar raised the issue of the MGNREGA dues with the Centre. He accused Congress's Baharampur MP Adhir Ranjan Choudhury of "joining hands with the BJP" to discredit the TMC government in the state. Rajaram Rege, Who Is Linked to 26/11 Mumbai Terror Attacks, Arrested for Targeting TMC Leader Abhishek Banerjee, Claim Kolkata Police

He alleged that the Congress in West Bengal was supporting the BJP's agenda to harass TMC leaders by central agencies. He claimed the BJP had conspired to split the TMC ahead of the 2021 assembly elections, but the attempts were thwarted. In Baisnabnagar, Banerjee was campaigning for TMC's Malda Dakshin candidate Shahnawaz Ali Raihan, who has been pitted against Congress's Isha Khan Choudhury and BJP's Sreerupa Mitra Chaudhury. The Congress has been winning the seat since 2009 when it came into being following the delimitation exercise. Malda Dakshin will go to the polls in the third phase on May 7.