KOLKATA: In Jhargram Lok Sabha seat, BJP candidate Pranat Tudu and his security detail had to run for their lives as a TMC mob threw stones and bricks at them.
Clashes between Trinamool Congress activists and BJP supporters marred the sixth phase of Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal. Eight Lok Sabha seats—Tamluk, Kanthi, Ghatal, Jhargram, Medinipur, Purulia, Bankura and Bishnupur—went to the polls on Saturday. BJP leaders alleged that Trinamool Congress activists were preventing their agents from reaching the booths.
In 2019, the BJP had won five of these eight seats. Though the Trinamool Congress won three seats including Tamluk and Kanthi in East Midnapore, these are considered the pocket borough of Suvendu Adhikari and his family who have since then crossed over to the BJP. Former High Court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who has emerged as the Trinamool’s bugbear, is the BJP’s candidate in Tamluk.
In almost all the seats, BJP candidates faced protests by Trinamool Congress activists wielding wooden and bamboo sticks who prevented them from going to the booths and shouted “go back” slogans.
In Garbeta under Jhargram Lok Sabha seat, BJP candidate Pranat Tudu and his security detail had to run for their lives as a Trinamool mob threw stones and bricks, injuring a security guard. The Trinamool Congress, however, claimed that Tudu and his security men had attacked a woman who had gone to cast her vote.
“The BJP candidate and his security personnel assaulted a woman. We condemn this attack on women,” said Chandrima Bhattacharya, West Bengal’s Minister of State for Health.
Ghatal BJP candidate Hiran Chatterjee, who faced multiple roadblocks in various parts of the constituency including Keshpur, said: “The TMC goons are running havoc and creating hurdles in the voting process. Our booth agents are not allowed to sit inside the booths. When I went to visit these booths, the TMC put up blockades and burnt tyres. The Central forces requested me to leave since they could not guarantee my security. They have reduced the democratic process to a farce.”
In Medinipur, BJP candidate Agnimitra Paul faced obstacles as she tried to enter voting booths.
BJP’s Tamluk candidate Abhijit Gangopadhyay told The Sunday Guardian that he was not happy with the conduct of Bengal police personnel who were helping the Trinamool Congress in “false voting and booth jamming”.
“The Quick Reaction Teams of the Election Commission were misled by the Bengal Police personnel and did not reach the trouble-spots in time. I will give the Election Commission only 42 out of 100 for the way they conducted the election,” he added.
However, Debangshu Bhattacharya, the Trinamool’s Tamluk candidate said: “BJP goons have snatched EPIC cards of voters in some areas in Nandigram. A makeshift bamboo bridge was broken so that voters couldn’t reach the polling station.”
In the Bankura constituency, BJP candidate and Union Minister Subhas Sarkar faced protests while visiting one of the booths in the area.
“Mamata Banerjee is murdering democracy in Bengal. Now, TMC goons attack BJP’s Jhargram (a Tribal seat) candidate,” Amit Malviya, BJP’s IT cell head and Bengal co-minder, wrote on X.
“One person was killed in Mahishadal on Friday night after he was attacked with sharp weapons. He has been identified as Sheikh Maibul. Investigation is going on. Five persons have been detained,” said a police officer.
It was the second murder in the last 72 hours in Tamluk. On Thursday, a BJP woman worker was killed while her son, a BJP local leader, was severely injured.
In the evening, an Election Commission official said: “Scattered incidents of violence were reported from some areas in the eight Lok Sabha constituencies of West Bengal, where polling is under way for the sixth phase on May 25. The average voter turnout till 5pm was 77.9%.”
“The Election Commission of India has received 1,150 complaints until 4 p.m. from various political parties, alleging EVM malfunctions and agents being stopped from entering booths,” they said.