POLLING COMES TO AN END IN WEST BENGAL
State records 76.07% turnout till 5 pm; crude bombs hurled in Kolkata, 1 dead in alleged road accident in Murshidabad dist
KOLKATA: Stray incidents of violence were reported on Thursday from several areas which went to polls in the eighth and last phase of assembly elections in West Bengal, but the overall election process has been peaceful with 76.07% voter turnout, Election Commission of India (ECI) officials said.
Voting was held in 11,860 polling stations of 35 constituencies -- 11 each in Murshidabad and Birbhum, six in Malda and seven in north Kolkata.
One person was killed and two others injured as a car hit them in Murshidabad district, hours before the polling exercise began, triggering tension in the area, a police officer said.
The CPI(M) alleged that its member Kader Mondal (42) was killed, and two others -- Asim Al Mamoon (43) and Lal Chand Mondal (42) -- sustained injuries after Trinamool Congress candidate Jafikul Islam ran his car over them. Crude bombs were hurled in front of Mahajati Sadan in central Kolkata while elections were underway in the area, police said. The incident happened on Central Avenue in the heart of the city, triggering panic among the people, they said.
KOLKATA: Stray incidents of violence were reported on Thursday from several areas where voting is underway for the eighth and last phase of assembly elections in Bengal, but the overall polling process has been peaceful with 76.07 per cent voter turnout recorded till 5 pm, EC officials said.
Voting is being held in 11,860 polling stations of 35 constituencies -- 11 each in Murshidabad and Birbhum, six in Malda and seven in north Kolkata.
One person was killed and two others injured as a car hit them in Murshidabad district, hours before the polling exercise began, triggering tension in the area, a police officer said earlier in the day.
The CPI(M) alleged that its member Kader Mondal (42) was killed, and two others -- Asim Al Mamoon (43) and Lal Chand Mondal (42) -- sustained injuries after TMC candidate Jafikul Islam ran his car over them.
Islam, the TMC’s Domkal seat candidate, rubbished the allegation, claiming that he was nowhere near the site of the incident.
Chief Election Officer (CEO) Aariz Aftab has sought a report from district authorities in the matter.
Crude bombs were hurled in front of Mahajati Sadan in central Kolkata on Thursday morning while elections were underway in the area, police said.
The incident happened on Central Avenue in the heart of the city, triggering panic among the people, they said.
BJP’s Jorasanko candidate Meena Devi Purohit alleged that the crude bombs were hurled at her vehicle while she was touring different polling booths.
“Bombs were hurled at my car but I am not scared. I will definitely visit the booths,” she said. “They tried to kill me and it is a ploy to scare the voters,” Purohit alleged.
A huge police contingent was deployed at the spot, a senior officer of Kolkata Police said.
Evidence was collected and an investigation started, he said.
Seven seats in Kolkata, including Jorasanko, were voting in the final phase of the West Bengal assembly elections. In the city’s Beliaghata area, clashes broke out between two groups of people, following which the police resorted to mild lathicharge to disperse them.
Two persons, who identified themselves as BJP activists, alleged that they were roughed up by TMC workers during the melee. In Jorasanko constituency of central Kolkata, crude bombs were hurled outside Mahajati Sadan, the police said.
BJP candidate Meena Devi Purohit alleged that the bombs were thrown at her vehicle while she was touring different polling booths. A huge police contingent was rushed to the spot to control the situation.
In Nanoor constituency of violence-prone Birbhum district, BJP candidate Tarakeshwar Saha reportedy suffered injuries after his vehicle was ransacked.
Saha accused TMC cadres of attacking him, but the allegation was dubbed as “baseless” by local leaders of the state’s ruling party. In Maniktala constituency of Kolkata, BJP candidate Kalyan Choubey was gheraoed by a group of people during his visit to the polling booths. Choubey said “TMCbacked anti-socials” tried to create disturbances “so that they could rig the polls”.
TMC candidate Sadhan Pande, however, alleged agents of his party were beaten up by the BJP cadres in several booths.
Long queues were seen outside most polling booths since early morning, raising concern over the spread of Covid-19, even as the Election Commission gave assurance that all precautionary measures are in place.
Bengal registered its highest single-day spike of 17,207 Covid-19 cases on Wednesday, while 77 more people succumbed to the disease.
Security measures have been heightened in view of the violence in the previous phases, an EC official said, adding that 641 companies of central forces were deployed in the final phase.