Bengal post-poll clashes continue, election in 20 booths countermanded
A four-member BJP team which has visited violence-affected areas since Wednesday, met Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose to seek his intervention
KOLKATA: The West Bengal State Election Commission has countermanded panchayat polls at 20 booths in three districts even as post-poll clashes erupted in several areas across the state on Thursday.
“Election has been countermanded in some booths of Howrah, Hooghly and North 24 Parganas where counting was disrupted after ballot papers were looted on the counting day. No dates (for new elections) have been announced so far,” said a poll panel officer.
Dozens of people have been injured as post-poll clashes continued in the state, days after state-wide local elections ended.
Fresh cases of violence have been reported just a day after West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee urged people to maintain peace and harmony and the Calcutta high court’s Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam expressed surprise over the continuing violence.
At Bhangore in South 24 Parganas at least four persons were injured after bombs they were allegedly making exploded, police said.
“The incident came to light when the injured persons, who were being shifted to a hospital without informing the police, were intercepted at a road checkpoint. We have registered,” said a senior police officer in Baruipur.
Houses belonging to and shops owned by BJP workers were allegedly attacked in the Habra area of North 24 Parganas, the party claimed on Thursday. Following the attack, BJP leader Priyanka Tibrewal met some of the victims on Thursday.
Houses belonging to poll candidates who lost were also attacked at Kulpi in South 24 Parganas and Itahar in North Dinajpur district.
Clashes were also reported from Jangipara in Hooghly.
Meanwhile, a four-member BJP team led by former union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad met West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose at Raj Bhavan in Kolkata and sought his intervention in ending the continuing post-poll violence in the state. The group has visited several violence-hit areas since Wednesday.
Suvendu Adhikari, opposition leader in the state assembly, attacked the ruling TMC on Thursday, tweeting that the ruling party had taken the art of election rigging to another level.
He said that even though the people tried to resist rigging on the polling day, manipulation was done at the counting centres where people had no access.
Adhikari also tweeted that if votes were counted in a free and fair manner, the TMC would have lost at least five zilla parishads and the opposition would have formed boards in several panchayat localities.
The TMC hit back with a video in which the BJP lawmaker could be purportedly seen saying that an atmosphere has to be created where Article 355 has to be implemented. The TMC MP Derek O’Brien tweeted the video.
In a separate development, the Border Security Force’s special DG YB Khurania
met governor Bose and submitted a report on the alleged delay by the state poll panel over deployment of central forces in the run-up to the panchayat polls.
The Inspector General of BSF, who was the force coordinator in the state, on Wednesday submitted a voluminous report in the Calcutta high court on the alleged non-cooperation of the state poll panel when it came to deployment of central forces.
“There are serious allegations against the SEC. If they turn out to be true then it would tantamount to wilful disobedience to the order and direction issued by the court,” the Calcutta high court stated adding that it was a prima facie observation.
The report stated that state poll panel didn’t share the list of sensitive booths where central forces were to be deployed. It also alleged that central forces were not deployed on the ground. Troops, which had to be brought from Tripura went back as they were allegedly not utilised, it said.
The SEC’s counsel Jishnu Saha was asked to file a response.
