5 killed in India poll violence
MODI TAKES A JIBE AT MAMATA’S CALL TO ‘RESIST’ CENTRAL FORCES AS THEY OPEN FIRE KILLING FOUR
At least five people were killed by gunfire in election-related violence at two polling stations in India’s West Bengal state, police and officials said yesterday.
Security forces caused the majority of the casualties _ four killed and four wounded _ while trying to control a crowd outside a voting centre in Cooch Behar district, said senior police officer Vishal Garg.
Results out on May 2
In a separate incident, unidentified gunmen fired at voters at a polling station in the same district, killing one person. Local elections in West Bengal are being held in eight phases. Voting in four states and a union territory began in late March and are spread over a month. Results will be declared on May 2 .
What was being feared as a distinct possibility — and the portends of which were clearly evident all through campaigning and the three phases of polling conducted so far in the 2021 assembly elections in West Bengal — came through yesterday morning as five people lost their lives in electoral violence in the fourth phase of polls in the state.
A first-time voter was killed in violence while returning home after casting his vote at a polling booth in Cooch Behar district, while four others lost their lives when Central Forces opened fire on an armed mob outside polling booth No 126 at Jor Patki in the Seetalkuchi constituency of the same district.
Polling was suspended at the booth.
Four more stages
Yesterday polling was conducted in 44 constituencies in the districts of Cooch Behar, Alipurduar, Howrah and South 24 Parganas. According to the ECI’s provisional data, 76.16 per cent polling was registered in West Bengal until polling ended. There are four more stages of polling left. Results will be declared on May 2.
The day’s most serious incident of violence took place in Booth No 126 where personnel from Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) opened fire on an armed mob. There were reports of attacks by Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers and supporters on Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Indranil Khan in the Kasba constituency in South Kolkata
PM condoles death
While prime minister Narendra Modi condoled the deaths in Cooch Behar in his address to an election rally elsewhere in the state, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee attacked federal home minister Amit Shah, saying that he “was influencing the central forces”. Mamata said: “We have to take revenge and the revenge is to vote them out.” Addressing a media conference in Kolkata later in the day, Mamata said: “I am saying, Amit Shah, you resign. You resign. You resign. As the home minister you are a conspirator.”
At an election rally in Siliguri earlier in the day, Modi, taking a jibe at Mamata, said that what happened in Cooch Behar was a fallout of the way Mamata had repeatedly exhorted the masses to turn against the central forces. “Even after ten years in power, a chief minister is threatening to barrack the Central Forces personnel and exhorting the masses to turn against them in order to win an election!”
Firing in ‘self-defence’
Mamata had, in recent times, made several comments on what she alleged as a “partisan” role of the central forces in these elections. On one occasion, she urged voters to “gherao” the personnel and hand them over to the police for any “excesses”, while on another occasion, she appealed to women to step out of their homes with crude kitchen tools and “confront” central forces.
Sources told Gulf News that in a report filed with the ECI, Vivek Dubey, the special police observer said that an injured youth was moved to a hospital whena rumour spread that he had been killed by the security forces. Soon, around 300-350 people armed with crude weapons gathered outside the booth and attacked the men in uniform.
The CISF personnel then sought reinforcements and the Quick Response Team moved in. Initially, the security personnel tried to control the mob without using force, but had to resort to firing in “selfdefence” when some people from the mob tried to snatch their weapons, resulting in the deaths of four people.