1 dead, bombs thrown at polling station
KOLKATA: One person was killed and bombs were thrown at a polling station yesterday as the country’s hotbed of political violence West Bengal held elections, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking to unseat one of his fiercest opponents.
Victory in the eastern region of 90 million would be a major achievement for Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party as it looks to expand its power base beyond its Hindispeaking northern heartlands.
In a state where thousands have died since the 1960s, fresh incidents of violence were reported with police saying a mob threw bombs at one polling station, seriously injuring an officer.
The president of the BJP in the state, Dilip Ghosh, said one of their supporters was killed by members of the region’s ruling Trinamool Congress party.
“His body was found in the compound of his mud hut.”
Assailants also attacked the vehicles of at least two election candidates, police said.
Bank employee Bablu Das, 32, said voting was taking place in his district in the west of the state “in an atmosphere of violence” and many people were scared to vote.
Because of extra security, the election is being held over eight phases concluding on April 29.
The northeastern state of Assam also went to the polls on yesterday in the first of three phases, while Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry vote on April 6. Results from all are due on May 2.
West Bengal is the most important with the BJP pushing hard to win power in the largely Bengali speaking region for the first time.
But the party faces a tough opponent in chief minister Mamata Banerjee, 66, a firebrand nicknamed “Didi” (Big Sister) and her Trinamool Congress party.
Activists from both parties have been shot or hacked to death, their bodies sometimes hung from trees.