Wouldn’t have contested if knew about voting bar: Madan Mitra

Kolkata, May 6: Ridiculing the Election Commission for not allowing himto cast his vote, jailed Trimool Congress heavyweight Madan Mitra said he wouldn’t have contested the West Bengal assembly polls if he had prior information about the restrictions. Defending Kamarhati constituency in North 24 Pargas, Mitra is currently behind bars for his alleged complicity in the multi–crore rupee Saradha scam. With the Representation of the Peoples’ Act putting a bar on a prisoner, the former transport and sports minister was not allowed to vote. “I am a candidate but I was not allowed to vote. They (EC) took Rs.10,000 (security deposit) but I was not allowed to cast my vote. If this was the case they shouldn’t have taken the deposit from me. “I wasn’t allowed to go to my constituency, and also denied the opportunity to plead before the people about my candidature. If they (EC) had informed me about these restictions beforehand I wouldn’t have contested,” said Mitra, now in a hospital. Following his hospitalisation late last month, Mitra was put under constant monitoring and barred from using a mobile by the poll panel. The move came in the wake of complaints by the opposition parties that he might use his influence from the hospital and disrupt the polls. Mitra has been behind bars since his arrest on December 12, 2014, except for a brief period last October when he was granted bail by a lower court. (IANS)