The West Bengal State Election Commission has ended up in a comic flip-flop providing two different figures for the votes polled 3 pm onwards on April 18 Kolkata Municipal Corporation elections.
While on Saturday the Commission had reported 62 per cent polling with only about 822 voters queued up for voting after 3 pm — the scheduled closing time of polling — on Monday the figure for queued up voters mysteriously jumped up by more than 2 lakh and so did the poll percentage.
On Monday, the Commission reports showed 68 per cent polling in place of 62 per cent that it showed on the poll day on Saturday. The new figures for queued up voters showed about 2.33 lakh people were still standing in queues after 3 pm.
The Monday's forward roll on official poll statistics matched the volte-face done on Sunday by State Election Commissioner SR Upadhyaya who parroted Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's lines on "exceptionally free and fare corporation elections," Opposition parties said.
He had on Saturday said that there were sufficient reasons to believe that the polls had not taken place in an ideal condition.
Opposition had alleged relentless attacks by Trinamool goons on Opposition outfits followed by booth-capturing, throughout the city that finally ended up in shooting of a police sub-inspector. The police officer who was still recuperating in a hospital was shot at by sidekicks of a known Trinamool Congress leader of North-Central Kolkata, police sources said on Monday.
Curiously the poll percentage in the closing hours of voting had showed a huge jump in last 2 hours. About 6.5 lakh voters had "officially" cast their votes in those crucial two hours when the booths had been jammed and captured, an SEC official said requesting anonymity.
"It is curious to note that while in first 6 hours the rate of polling was little more than 36 per cent it literally doubled in final two hours," said Biswanath Chakrabarty, a psephologist wondering "if such was the violence in Kolkata what would be the fate of the districts that go to polls on April 25". Remaining 91 municipalities would go to polls on that day.
With about 40 per cent of the State's voters exercising their franchise, the ongoing municipal elections were seen as "semi-finals" by the political outfits before the next year's Assembly elections. Attacking the SEC for "acting as a stooge of the Chief Minister" PCC member Abdul Mannan said, "Both the Government and the Commission were involved in the conspiracy."
According to sources, the Opposition parties were planning to move court regarding the huge difference shown in vote percentage by the SEC. "We have all seen how criminals were imported from districts to rig elections, attack our workers. People are watching it and will give a befitting reply soon," said CPI(M)'s Sujan Chakrabarty.
State Opposition leader and CPI(M) Politburo member Suryakanato Mishra who led a huge protest rally on Monday said his party would prepare to "pay them back in the same coins if they repeat such attacks."
BJP's Tathagato Roy said, "All poll arithmetic are prepared at Kalighat (Mamata Banerjee's residence) and will continue to do so in future. There is no doubt that SEC is hand-in-glove with the State Government."