Lok Sabha elections 2019: Violence casts shadow over West Bengal in last phase of polls
While there were reports of crude bomb blasts at Raidighi under the Mathurapur Lok Sabha seat, polling was also delayed in many polling booths due to altercations between BJP and TMC workers.
In Short
- Violence was witnessed yet again during the last phase of polling in Lok Sabha elections
- BJP has accused TMC workers of casting proxy votes in some booths under Jadavpur constituency
- Additional troops have been deployed to keep the violence in check
Polling in the last phase of the Lok Sabha elections 2019 was yet again marred by stray incidents of violence across several constituencies.
While there were reports of crude bomb blasts at Raidighi under the Mathurapur Lok Sabha seat, polling was also delayed due to altercations between BJP and TMC workers. EVM glitches in the morning also added to the confusion since Sunday morning.
Constituencies from both south and north Kolkata witnessed incidents of violence. The BJP candidate from north Kolkata constituency even alleged that TMC workers threatened their polling agents.
After Bashirat where Voters not allowed to vote and
women TMC workers casting proxy votes with covered faces in Jadhavpur
Now Journalists being attacked in South Kolkata,
Complete mockery of democracy in West Bengal @MamataOfficial #Phase7 #VotingRound7 #JeetegaToModiHi pic.twitter.com/PdvmSd16vu Chowkidar Geetika Swami (@SwamiGeetika) May 19, 2019
BJP's Anupam Hazra accused women TMC workers of casting proxy votes as they kept their faces covered.
BJP MP candidate Anupam Hazra in Jadavpur: TMC goons have beaten up a BJP mandal president, a driver&attacked a car. We also rescued our 3 polling agents.TMC goons were going to carry out rigging at 52 booths. People are eager to vote for BJP but they are not allowing ppl to vote pic.twitter.com/7qlRPg73HA ANI (@ANI) May 19, 2019
"At polling booth number 150/137 in Jadavpur, women TMC workers with covered faces are casting proxy votes. It is difficult to establish their identity. When we raised objection to it, they created a ruckus at the polling station," he said.
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He also accused TMC workers of assaulting BJP Mandal president and attacking his vehicle. "We also rescued our 3 polling agents. TMC goons were going to carry out rigging at 52 booths. People are eager to vote for BJP but they are not allowing people to vote," he added.
West Bengal: BJP candidate for Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha constituency, Nilanjan Roy's car vandalised in Dongaria area of the constituency. pic.twitter.com/Ag09xHu5hZ ANI (@ANI) May 19, 2019
Earlier in the day, there were also reports of voters protesting across Bashirhat where at least 100 voters were allegedly stopped from exercising their democratic right.
BJP's candidate from Basirhat, Sayantan Basu, said, "100 people were stopped from voting. We will take them to cast their vote."
At Rajarhat in West Bengal, a BJP office was also set on fire last night. However, they have been no reports of any serious injury as of now.
Polling in the seventh and final phase in West Bengal is being held across nine seats and 111 candidates are in the fray.
Some of the key seats that went to polls today include Kolkata North and Kolkata South in the metropolis, Dum Dum, Barasat, Basirhat in North 24 Parganas and Diamond Harbour.
While the Election Commission deployed 710 companies of central armed forces for the last phase, additional troops had to be deployed due to a spike in violence during today's polling.