While the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections on three seats in West Bengal on Friday wasn’t completely free of violence, observers said the intensity was certainly much less.
The Trinamool Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party lodged around 100 and 50 complaints, respectively, related to poll violence, voter intimidation, and assaults on poll agents in the initial hours of voting in Alipurduar, Cooch Behar, and Jalpaiguri, said sources from both parties. Most complaints originated from Cooch Behar.
Voter turnout is always high in West Bengal and this time too it was about 77% till 5 pm.
At around 7.30 am on Friday, 102-year-old Ramendra Barman came to cast his vote in the same booth where union minister of state for home Nisith Pramanik of the BJP exercised his right to vote in Bhetaguri. Speaking to News1 Barman said, “Who knows whether I will be able to cast my vote next year or not? This is my right and I would ask my future generations to come and vote.” Barman came to vote though he has difficulty walking.
While the TMC alleged that its block leader Ananta Burman was assaulted in Cooch Behar’s Bhetaguri, the BJP claimed that its polling agent Biswanath Pal was abducted. The Election Commission later said that he had been found by sub-inspector Bhaskar Roy and his team and was helped to reach his booth (no. 221). A video clip on the development was also released.
There was a stone-pelting incident in Chandamari, and a voter was injured.
Both sides were claiming a victory. Pramanik was monitoring the situation from his house in the morning and left around noon to visit a couple of places in the Dinhata area (stronghold of area MLA and TMC’s north Bengal development minister Udayan Guha) and came back. In the evening, he went to a locality called Natabari where there was a complaint from his camp, and returned.
Speaking to News18, Pramanik said, “This time the people will win. No matter how much TMC goons try, we will win and I am confident.”
On the other hand, TMC candidate Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia and Udayan Guha visited different booths throughout the day.
Guha told News18, “This time we will save our goalpost and will score a goal because this is a matter of prestige.”
The TMC also carried out a “victory rally” in the area.
The area saw the death of four persons in firing allegedly by central forces at Sitalkuchi during the 2021 assembly elections. The deployment of CRPF personnel and coordination with the state was better this time, and the Election Commission kept strict vigil, said observers.
Vijay Kumar, DIG of CRPF in Siliguri, told News18, “Complaints came but not many. I myself travelled 60 km but I did not find any violence and every complaint was properly looked at.”
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