KOLKATA: The first phase of Lok Sabha Election, covering three parliamentary constituencies in West Bengal, was marred by allegations of sporadic violence, intimidation and malpractices including rigging by BJP and Trinamul Congress on Friday amid an average voter turnout of 77.57%.
Till 5 pm, Jalpaiguri seat recorded 79.33% polling, followed by Coochbehar at 77.73% and Alipurduar at 75.54%. However it was Coochbehar seat, where union minister of state for home affairs and BJP MP Nishit Pramanik contested for the second time, remained at top among others for all the wrong reasons throughout the day.
At Bhetabari in Dinhata, local TMC MLA Udayan Guha, who is also the North Bengal development minister, was gheraoed by angry women and faced their protest during his visit. The women were demonstrating over a BJP panchayat member’s arrest by the police for assaulting Dinhata TMC block (1B) president Ananta Barman in the morning.
Mr Guha called the agitation a “staged one” by the BJP. Mr Pramanik alleged, “The state police is working at the behest of TMC. Election Commission needs to show that it is proactive. Mr Guha is getting back the same treatment he gave to the public.”
At Falimari, nine crude bombs were recovered by the police within 200 meters of a booth. At Sitalkuchi which was rocked by violence and killing of four villagers in CISF firing in 2021 assembly polls, TMC and BJP workers clashed at booth no 286 over tarpaulin.
A villager, Binod Sarkar, was injured on his right eye in the same area after some TMC workers pelted stones on him when he was returning home after casting his vote. In Jalpaiguri, TMC and BJP workers fought among themselves at a polling booth, Tileshwari High School, in Dabgram-Phulbari assembly constituency area.
The fight broke out after local BJP MLA Shikha Chatterjee visited there getting complaints of rigging and influencing the voters by TMC councilor Munna Prasad and his aides. The TMC however denied the claims and levelled the same allegations against Ms Chatterjee.
Earlier in the morning, the BJP MLA was caught in a tussle between her party workers and their TMC counterparts at a booth under ward number 33 of the Siliguri Municipal Corporation. In Alipurduar, BJP candidate Manoj Tigga alleged that his agents were not allowed at four booths.
TMC also accused him of driving out it's agent from a booth. However Chief Electoral Officer (West Bengal) Ariz Aftab said in the evening that the polling was “peaceful.” Hours before the polls began, an on-duty CRPF jawan, Nilesh Kumar Neelu (42) from Bihar, died at in Coochbehar.
He was found lying unconscious in the washroom of the booth at Beltala in Mathabhanga after falling ill on Thursday night with bleeding from nose and mouth. He was rushed to the Mathabhanga sub divisional hospital only to be declared brought dead. Neelu was posted in the Quick Response Team.
