West Bengal minister in trouble over Pakistan remark
Minister for urban development and municipal affairs in Mamata Banerjee's Cabinet was taking a Pakistani journalist for a stroll.
Kolkata: Trinamul leader Bobby Firhad Hakim triggered a controversy which might cost dearly to the party in the ongoing Assembly elections in West Bengal.
According to a report in Pakistani daily The Dawn, the Minister for urban development and municipal affairs in Mamata Banerjee’s Cabinet was taking a Pakistani journalist for a stroll and addressed the Garden Reach area as ‘mini-Pakistan’.
Meanwhile, a voter turnout of over 78.25 per cent marked the fifth and penultimate phase of assembly polls in West Bengal where 186 people were arrested in incidents of electoral malpractice and sporadic violence that left at least 15 injured.
Deputy Election Commissioner incharge of West Bengal, Sandeep Saxena, told the media in New Delhi that “based on SMS-based information from polling officers, at 5 pm the voter turnout in 5th phase was 78.25 per cent.”