Bengal polls

supporters were killed, which is not true,” Chatterjee said.

In many places voters alleged that even while they were waiting to cast their votes, youths applied marks of the indelible ink on their left index finger and asked them to go home saying their vote has been cast.

In Cooch Behar north Bengal development minister Rabindranath Ghosh allegedly slapped a BJP worker that was captured on camera. Ghosh, however, denied that he assaulted him and alleged the youth was trying to flee with a ballot box.

Food minister Jyotipriyo Mullick alleged that BJP leaders brought hundreds of people from Bangladesh and sheltered them in different areas of North 24 Parganas district after villagers caught a few toughs who stormed a booth in Bagda early in the morning.

“If so many people came from Bangladesh, why did the administration fail to catch a few of them?” asked BJP state president Dilip Ghosh. Asaduddin Owaisi ( of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen ) are against any such talks. Since they have campaigned for us, it is difficult to now dump the alliances with these parties,” this person added.

Both Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have attacked the JD(S) and its leader and former prime minister, HD Deve Gowda. While Gandhi said the ‘S’ in the party’s name stood for Sangh Parivar, Modi has repeatedly claimed that the party will not be able to defeat the Congress as it is limited to a few seats.

BJP leaders said there was no question of talks with the JD(S) at this point. “We are confident of getting a clear and comfortable majority,” a senior BJP leader said, on the condition of anonymity. “If we do not get a majority we will take a call only after the polls,” he said.

“In fact, while everybody is busy projecting the differences between Siddaramaiah and Kumaraswamy, it is fairly clear that Deve Gowda and Siddaramaiah continue to be close. Also, Deve Gowda is aiming for a role in 2019, so he will not willingly join us in a coalition,” the leader said.

Political analyst Narendar Pani said it was doubtful if parties would discuss any possible alliance at this time. “With Kumaraswamy having gone to Singapore, there doesn’t seem much scope for discussions at this stage. Anyway, the JD(S) will play hard to get if there is a hung assembly and will try and extract as much as possible with the prospective alliance partner,” he said.

Proper talks concerning a possible alliance will begin soon after the results are out, the first JD(S) leader said. That way, we will know “our strength or the two parties’ weaknesses”. apex court that a draft final report had been prepared after conducting “thorough professional and scientific investigations”.