The voting for the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) took place on Sunday in which reports of violence and booth capturing in several wards were reported.
Several election agents belonging to the Opposition in West Bengal have claimed to have been assaulted by local thugs. “Because many people are intimidated by the ruling Trinamool Congress, the voter turnout is low. Election agents have been prohibited in various locations. So, let’s wait for the results,” a senior BJP leader told The Daily Guardian.
Several booths were alleged to have been taken over by TMC workers and BJP candidate Sanjoy Das was pushed outside the centre by people. It was reported that several CCTV cameras were not functioning, and opposition agents were not allowed inside.
Similarly, it was alleged that false voting was being done by TMC workers in some polling stations, primarily at Subhash Vidhyapith Girls’ High School, KMCP CIT Part, and Shishu Mahal Girls’ High School.
The national convener of the BJP IT cell Amit Malviya posted a video of Kolkata cops assaulting BJP candidate Brajesh Jha. He tweeted, “Free and fair KMC polls? Here Kolkata Police can be seen manhandling Brajesh Jha, a BJP candidate from ward 7. At whose behest are they intimidating BJP candidates? Home Minister Mamata Banerjee or her nephew, who is now super CM?”
Fraudulent voters were detected in Ward 86 of the Bhawanipur Arya Vidya Mandir. An election agent, Rajarshi Lahiri, told The Daily Guardian, “A fake voter just fled, and the police were silent spectators, no actions were taken. I heard him talking to some TMC activist.”
A BJP candidate at Ward 12, Tanusree Roy, was beaten badly by TMC goons. Similarly, all booths of BJP candidates in Ward 109 were alleged to have been captured, and the agents were not allowed to sit anywhere. Other instances of booth capturing and proxy voting were reported in Ward 21 at Binani Dharamshala. At Ward 65, massive rigging was detected in booths 167 and 169.
The chairman of the Election Committee, West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee, wrote to West Bengal State Election Commission, demanding a repoll in Ward 36 under the jurisdiction of Narkeldanga police station. The letter stated that the TMC goons took over the polling station, and the officer in charge of the police station and the municipal returning officer didn’t take any action.
Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari slammed the West Bengal government over incidents of violence during the Kolkata municipal elections and compared Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to North Korea leader Kim Jong-un. Speaking to ANI in this regard, Adhikari said, “Today, votes have been looted at Kolkata Municipal Corporation polls, under the eyes of Kolkata Police. We demand the entire election be cancelled and BJP demands re-election.” “We met the Governor today in this regard. We told him that the State Election Commission has a spineless commissioner. We will protest on the streets and will also fight a legal battle in the matter. Mamata Banerjee is like North Korea’s Kim Jong-un. Kolkata Police is behaving like a cadre of TMC,” he said.
The BJP leader alleged that Mamata Banerjee instructed police to protect the TMC goons.
“Mamata Banerjee’s instruction to the police was to stay empty-handed and protect the TMC goons. Voting took place with the support of 30-40% outside voters. Every TMC goon cast 8 to 10 votes. We have enough evidence to invalidate the election. We are ready to submit the evidence in the Court,” he said.
Kolkata Police admitted that two incidents of bombing were reported on Sunday morning. “At 9.45 am, two bomb blasts took place in front of Khanna High School. Police reached there immediately and there was no disruption in the electoral process. Adequate police force has been deployed there,” the police said.
According to sources, a bomb exploded near Taki School in the Amherst Street police station area in which three persons were injured and were admitted to the hospital. One person has been arrested in the case. On Hare Street near Jain School, situation got heated following an argument between two candidates and four persons have been arrested so far in the incident.
The Kolkata Police have arrested 72 people so far.
WITH AGENCY INPUTS