TMC goons should be taken into preventive custody ahead of polls: Javadekar

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on Thursday said TMC "goons" who are disturbing the political fabric of West Bengal should be taken into preventive custody a day prior to elections in order to ensure that violence-free polling takes place in the state.

"In order to conduct a violence-free and fair election in West Bengal, we have requested the Election Commission of India to take those TMC goons and miscreants into preventive custody a day prior to the election. On the election day, we have videos in which these goons are seen going and pressing the button forcefully even in front of police officials," he told media here after meeting the Election Commission.

Earlier today, a BJP delegation led by Javadekar visited the EC to demand strict action against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah 'goons'.

"If a Chief Minister calls Modi and Amit Shah 'goons', the poll conducting body should take immediate action against her," Javadekar said.

Taking a dig at TMC workers for allegedly disturbing the law and order system in the state, he said, "We have seen many states going to polls peacefully, but in a place where TMC is present, we have seen the highest number of atrocities. This clearly means that the TMC goons are creating all the unrest."

Lashing out at the local administration for not maintaining law and order in the state, Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, who was part of the BJP delegation that met the EC, said, "Proper deployment of the central forces in the state should be enforced by the Election Commission as the local administration has completely failed to maintain law and order situation in the state."

"More than 400 Quick Response Teams (QRTs) are currently deployed in the state. People should be informed that they can directly go and seek help from this team in case of any discrepancies during the election," Naqvi added.

On Wednesday, the EC decided to cut short the campaign period in the state after violence was reported during Shah's roadshow on Wednesday in Kolkata.

Campaigning was originally scheduled to end at 5 pm on Friday for the nine constituencies that will go to polls on May 19.