Mukul rally disrupted in Haldibari

Jalpaiguri/Kolkata: A day after chief minister Mamata Banerjee accused the Election Commission of high-handedness, a public meeting organised by the Trinamool Congress at the Kamalakanta High School ground in Haldibari, on Monday, was allegedly cut short by the Model Code of Conduct observer after star campaigner, MP and actor Dev, and party vice-president Mukul Roy showed up late.
Nearly 10,000 people had gathered at the venue to see Dev. Barely had he started his speech when the observer instructed organisers to wind up the meeting. Roy wasn't able to deliver his speech. The meeting, organised on behalf of Mekhligunj Trinamool candidate Arghya Roy Pradhan, had started at noon and was to end at 3 pm. Dev and Roy reached there at 3.15 pm.
"Permission for a public meeting is granted on condition that time is maintained. If they stopped the meeting, the officials must have had some reason. I don't know what exactly prompted this action as the decision is taken entirely by the District Electoral Officer or the concerned Returning Officer. They have not informed us about it till now," additional CEO Dibyendu Sarkar said on Monday evening. Mekhligunj goes to the polls on Thursday and campaigning will come to an end on Tuesday evening.
Pradhan said: "Our meeting had almost got over by the time the duo arrived. We wound up the meeting on our own. There were no orders from any poll officials."
Trinamool's Cooch Behar district president Rabindranath Ghosh said: "The administration had granted permission to Roy to use the helipad till 3 pm. He was about 15-20 minutes late and this nod was cancelled. I have never heard of such a thing in my life. We will say whatever we have to say after May 19," he said.