Bengal Assembly bypolls: Complaints of violence flood CEO’s office

Kolkata: Polling for bye-elections for four Assembly constituencies in West Bengal continued on Wednesday amid reports of violence reaching the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO).

Till 3 P.M. the CEO’s office had received 91 complaints, out of which 61 were from Ranaghat-Dakshin Assembly constituency in Nadia District.

At Maniktala constituency in Kolkata, the situation flared up as the BJP candidate Kalyan Chaubey allegedly apprehended a fake voter and chased him.

Soon Chaubey was surrounded by a group of Trinamool Congress activists who started shouting “go-back” slogans.

They alleged that the BJP candidate was unnecessarily trying to create tension in the area when the polling process was absolutely peaceful.

Later the BJP supporters staged a protest in front of Phoolbagan Police Station against the development.

BJP President in West Bengal and Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar said that the Election Commission of India (ECI) should have been more proactive in preventing such malpractices.

“At many places the election process has turned out to be a farce. But this cannot continue forever and in the coming days there will be a mass uprising against the ruling party. At the same time I expected a more proactive role from the commission,” he said.

As per CEO office records, till 3 P.M. the average polling percentage in the four Assembly constituencies had been recorded at 50.22 per cent, with the highest figure being at Raiganj at 53.89 followed by Ranaghat-Dakshin at 52.41, Bagda at 50.81 and Maniktala being the lowest at 43.78 per cent.