{"id":208054,"date":"2026-03-15T18:49:06","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T13:19:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsfed.in\/english\/?p=208054"},"modified":"2026-03-15T18:49:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T13:19:07","slug":"mamata-gets-ec-green-light-imam-and-priest-allowance-hike-not-a-violation-of-poll-code","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsfed.in\/english\/mamata-gets-ec-green-light-imam-and-priest-allowance-hike-not-a-violation-of-poll-code\/","title":{"rendered":"Mamata Gets EC Green Light! Imam and Priest Allowance Hike Not a Violation of Poll Code!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In a significant ruling ahead of the 2026 West Bengal Assembly Elections, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar has clarified that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee\u2019s announcement regarding the hike in allowances for Imams and Priests does not violate the Model Code of Conduct (MCC). This statement comes after several opposition parties alleged that the populist move was a direct attempt to influence voters just days before the election schedule was announced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Addressing the media, Gyanesh Kumar explained that the allowance hike is part of an ongoing state-run scheme and the administrative approvals for it were processed before the official poll notification. &#8220;Any decision taken as part of a pre-existing welfare policy or administrative process initiated prior to the announcement of elections does not count as a violation of the MCC,&#8221; the CEC stated. This clarification provides a major strategic cushion for the Trinamool Congress as it prepares for the high-stakes battle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The opposition had characterized the hike as an act of religious appeasement designed to consolidate vote banks. However, with the Election Commission giving its approval, the ruling party now has a stronger defense against these allegations. As West Bengal heads into a two-phase election on April 23 and 29, the allowance issue remains a focal point of the political narrative, but the EC&#8217;s verdict has significantly reduced the legal hurdle for the TMC government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a significant ruling ahead of the 2026 West Bengal Assembly Elections, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar has clarified that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee\u2019s announcement regarding the hike in allowances for Imams and Priests does not violate the Model Code of Conduct (MCC). This statement comes after several opposition parties alleged that the populist [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-208054","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-latest-news"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Mamata Gets EC Green Light! Imam and Priest Allowance Hike Not a Violation of Poll Code! - Ekjhalak English<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/newsfed.in\/english\/mamata-gets-ec-green-light-imam-and-priest-allowance-hike-not-a-violation-of-poll-code\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mamata Gets EC Green Light! Imam and Priest Allowance Hike Not a Violation of Poll Code! - Ekjhalak English\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In a significant ruling ahead of the 2026 West Bengal Assembly Elections, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar has clarified that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee\u2019s announcement regarding the hike in allowances for Imams and Priests does not violate the Model Code of Conduct (MCC). This statement comes after several opposition parties alleged that the populist [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/newsfed.in\/english\/mamata-gets-ec-green-light-imam-and-priest-allowance-hike-not-a-violation-of-poll-code\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ekjhalak English\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-15T13:19:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-15T13:19:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/newsfed.in\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/01-368.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"724\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Author\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Author\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newsfed.in\\\/english\\\/mamata-gets-ec-green-light-imam-and-priest-allowance-hike-not-a-violation-of-poll-code\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newsfed.in\\\/english\\\/mamata-gets-ec-green-light-imam-and-priest-allowance-hike-not-a-violation-of-poll-code\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Author\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newsfed.in\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2675bfb1eca0a20263624f94dfec6582\"},\"headline\":\"Mamata Gets EC Green Light! 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