BSP chief Mayawati on Thursday accused the Election Commission of India of hurting democracy and helping Narendra Modi and said the Prime Minister and BJP president Amit Shah had been targeting Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee from the beginning. “The way the Election Commission reduced the campaign time is proof that it is helping Modi. Similar tricks were used in Uttar Pradesh but our alliance didn’t give any opportunity to them,” Mayawati said, referring to her tie-up with the Samajwadi Party and the RLD. Mayawati supported Trinamul Congress chief Mamata, saying: “Modi and Shah have been targeting Mamata from the beginning and are trying their best to divert the attention of the country from the failures of the central government to the BJP-created controversies in Bengal. “The BJP is uncertain in Uttar Pradesh and is looking at Bengal and Odisha to make up for the losses.

Source: The Telegraph May 17, 2019 02:09 UTC