Over 78 per cent voter turnout was recorded during the fourth phase of West Bengal Assembly elections for 49 seats in North 24 Parganas and Howrah on Monday amid some sporadic incidents of violence. The sporadic violence entailed brutal clubbing of a 3-year-old because one’s parents belonged to the Opposition camp and a candidate “evading death by a whisker” when Trinamool Congress goons attacked him.
Sporadic incident of violence also meant 4,173 complaints, about 1,500 more than the third phase received by the Election Commission, Chief Electoral Officer Sunil Gupta said.
Notwithstanding the complaints, the central forces looked more proactive on Monday driving away hooligans and their Quick Response Teams reaching instant relief to the attacked voters.
One such team led by EC personnel approached the victim child’s mother and escorted her to the polling booth. “I cast aside all the terror created by the gun-totting Trinamool goons and cast my vote with the help of the central forces,” said the home-maker at Halisahar.
Even as the Congress, left and the BJP congratulated the Commission for nudging the State CEO office hard the CRPF went about handling the mischief-mongers in effective manner, sources said.
In the list of complaints lodged with the Commission was the one where senior Trinamool Congress leader and Minister Purnendu Bose was seen leading his henchmen inside a booth at Shanti Nagar School for rigging polls and literally driving away the CRPF jawans by using his status who protested his action.
The BJP promptly demanded re-polling in the entire Rajarhaat-Gopalpur seat from where Bose is contesting. “We want re-poll at Rajarhat-Gopalpur and arrest of Purnendu Bose,” Jayprakash Majumdar of BJP said. ECI also took suo motu action seeking instant action-taken report from the District Magistrate sources said.
At Dum Dum North constituency CPI(M) candidate Tanmoy Bhattacharya was saved by a whisker when local goons attacked his car. Broken shreds of glass pierced his hand which bled profusely. “Had I not put my hands on my head the glasses of shattered wind-shield would simply enter my brain,” he said. Four Trinamool persons were arrested under “attempt to murder” charges. Another CPI(M) candidate Debashis Bhowmick was beaten up at Barrackpore.
In Howrah BJP leader and Bengali film star Rupa Ganguly was heckled by Trinamool men even as she protested against Howrah Deputy Mayor Minati Adhikary leading a gang of bikers to intimidate voters. In the melee Ganguly herself a candidate allegedly shoved a Trinamool woman who in turn filed a police complaints sources said.
Former cricketer and TMC candidate laxmi Ratan Shukla also filed a complaint against Ganguly who denied the charges and said she had to intervene as the police was not taking action against Trinamool workers who had jammed the booth.
“There was rampant booth-capturing by the Trinamool goons. The things was brought to the notice of the Observer but there was no result,” she said. The EC had sought reports of Ganguly’s movements from Howrah DM.
Till 3 pm the police had arrested 56 people from North 24 Parganas sources said Pratima Dutta an Independent candidate complained that she could not give agents in at least 200 booths because they were either driven away by the Trinamool men or were not allowed inside on technical grounds.
left Front-Congress alliance backed Independent candidate Pratima Dutta, wife of murdered green activist Tapan Dutta, alleged her polling agents were driven out or not allowed to enter the booths in her constituency Domjur in Howrah.
About 78.05 per cent polling was reported from the two districts till 5 pm. While North 24 Parganas reported 79.16 percent polling about 75.46 percent voters cast their votes in Howrah. The percentage was likely to go further up EC sources said.
By evening both the Opposition and the TMC claimed to have secured majority. “Today’s vote has given us majority and in the next two rounds we will go far beyond 200-mark,” said Trinamool’s Mukul Roy while CPI(M)’s Surya Kanta Mishra said “after today’s feet we are eyeing 200 seats.”