A day after Bangladeshi actor Ferdous Ahmed was seen campaigning for the TMC candidate Kanhaiya Lal Agarwal in North Dinajpur district of West Bengal, the Ministry of Home Affairs has sought a report from Foreigners Regional Registration Office(FRRO) enquiring whether Ahmed had violated any visa conditions.
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Yesterday, Ferdous took part in a roadshow along with other Bengali actors in Raiganj Hemtabad, Karandighi and Islampur. The BJP, on the other hand, had alleged that this is the violation of the model code of conduct. The BJP West Bengal Unit President Dilip Ghosh said that tomorrow Mamata Banerjee could even invite Pakistan PM Imran Khan to campaign for the TMC.
“How can a foreign national (Ferdous) be allowed to campaign for political road shows in West Bengal. It is unprecedented. It seems the party doesn’t have an Indian star for campaigning. Tomorrow, Banerjee will invite Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to campaign for the TMC. We condemn this as a Bangladeshi film star should not be a part of India’s biggest democratic festival”, said Ghosh.
BJP has asserted that the TMC is trying to entice the Muslim voters which are about 50% of the population in North Dinajpur. “By engaging a Bangladeshi actor, the ruling party is trying to woo the nearly 50% Muslims voters in North Dinajpur. The Trinamool is scared of us and hence, bringing foreign actors here”, he said.
The Election Commission has said that there’s nothing mentioned in the rulebook about foreign nationals campaigning. The Additional Chief Electoral Officer Sanjay Basu said, “There is nothing mentioned in the rule book, we shall look into it if we receive any complaint.”