West Bengal Police were accused of disrupting the screening of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to first-time voters on National Voters Day, according to Amit Malviya, the BJP’s media cell chief. Malviya claimed that despite having all necessary clearances, the broadcast of PM Modi’s interaction with first-time voters in North Kolkata was impeded.
Union Minister Smriti Irani criticized the Mamata Banerjee government over the incident, highlighting the contrasting police response to other events. The incident occurred during PM Modi’s virtual interaction with young voters as part of the ‘Namo Nav Matdata’ Conference organized by the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the youth wing of the BJP.
National Voters Day is celebrated on January 25 each year to mark the foundation day of the Election Commission of India, with the main goal of creating electoral awareness and encouraging citizens to participate in the electoral process. The incident in West Bengal adds to the political tension in the state as the 2024 Parliamentary Elections approach.