Bhowanipore, which is seeing a prestige fight between Trinamul Congress supremo and chief minister Mamata Banerjee and leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari from BJP, has clocked 86.63% polling.
Kolkata: The second and final phase of the Assembly Election in West Bengal on Wednesday crossed 92% voters' turnout and remained by and large peaceful except for some stray incidents. The last leg’s poll percentage, which was being updated by the Election Commission till the reports last came at night, is set to create a new record as it is expected to surpass the first round’s voting of around 93%, which was registered on April 23.
The average poll percentage of the 142 seats in seven districts of the state was trending at 92.32%. Burdwan East has been leading the districts with 93.71% voting, followed by North 24 Parganas (92.47%) and Howrah (92.07%). Kolkata South, covering four seats, stood at the lowest with 87.71%. Among the constituencies, Haroa in North 24 Parganas has turned out to be the topper with 97.37%. Bhowanipore, which is seeing a prestige fight between Trinamul Congress supremo and chief minister Mamata Banerjee and leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari fromBJP, has clocked 86.63% polling.
Two BJP candidates became targets of Trinamul Congress workers in South 24 Parganas after voting began in the morning. They are Bikash Sardar and Palash Jana who are contesting at Basanti and Raidighi respectively. Mr Sardar alleged that his car was vandalized while Mr Jana’s car was gheraoed by angry supporters of the ruling party. Both the incidents happened when they were visiting booths. Allegations also surfaced against the central forces of assaulting men, women and children at various constituencies in the districts. One of the injured died later.
While TMC claimed after the final phase that it would bag more than 235 seats this time, BJP is yet to make any projection.
The deceased, Purna Chandra Dolui (81), was a voter at Udaynarayanpur constituency in Howrah. He fell down and started vomiting after casting his ballot at booth no 245 in Balarampur Primary School of Khoshalpur. The aged man was rushed to Amta Hospital where he was declared dead. His son, Tarani, who accompanied him to the booth, claimed that his father was pushed by the central forces personnel, leading to his fall on the ground.
Attacking union home minister over the incident, Diamond Harbour TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee posted on X-handle, “Central Forces under Amit Shah have become BJP’s PRIVATE ARMY- A gang of licensed thugs unleashed on the people of Bengal. In Udaynarayanpur, an elderly man went to cast his vote with his son. Too frail to walk unaided, his son tried to help him into the booth. Central Forces pushed and manhandled both. The old man collapsed, was rushed to Amta Hospital and declared dead on arrival.”
He added, “Since dawn, these Central Forces have been terrorising ordinary citizens- slapping women, assaulting the elderly, attacking even children. This is the SITALKUCHI MENTALITY of 2021: cold-blooded, merciless violence against unarmed civilians. BJP paid a heavy price for the blood of innocents in 2021. They will pay an even heavier price in 2026. And to the JALLADS roaming Bengal: it doesn’t matter which state you come from. It doesn’t matter whose political patronage shields you. Every single one of you involved in this barbarism will be hunted down and made to face the full force of the law. Your reign of terror will end in total ruin.”
At Falta in South 24 Parganas, a video showing central forces troopers lathicharging men, women and children in a lane went viral. The TMC further accused the central forces of thrashing a serving Indian Army soldier, Bidyut Dutta, posted at Barrackpore in North 24 Parganas, and his wife at a booth in Bongaon South constituency of the district following an altercation over vehicle parking with the couple who came to cast votes. Mr Dutta was later taken to Thakurnagar Hospital for treatment.
