Notwithstanding the undercurrent of fear that left its impact on polling patterns in many parts of East Midnapore, Thursday’s sixth and final phase of Bengal Assembly elections passed off near-peacefully save for some sporadic incidents of violence.
The 25 constituencies — nine in Coochbehar and 16 in East Midnapore — that went to polls recorded an average 84.24 per cent polling by 5 pm.
While Coochbehar recorded 82.71 per cent, the figure for East Midnapore was 85.09 per cent, Chief Electoral Officer Sunil Kumar Gupta said.
In 2011 these districts recorded 85.66 and 90.07 per cent polling respectively.
While two presiding officers were removed, FIRs were filed against two Trinamool Congress candidates for creating disturbance and threatening Election Commission (EC) officials. The candidates proceeded against are Rabindranath Ghosh of Natabari and Udayan Guha of Dinhata, sources said adding the police and the CRPF once again did a good job to keep trouble-mongers at bay.
The Central forces lathi-charged illegal gatherings at booths at Toofanganj, Sitalkuchi, Haldia, Khejuri sources said. At Panshkura in East Midnapore the police and the Central forces ferried terrified voters by buses to polling booths.
Though most number of — about 1,500 — complaints lodged with the EC by 3 pm came from Coochbehar, an undercurrent of terror tended to prevail in large parts of East Midnapore including Nandigram, Khejuri, Bhagwanpur and Panshkura, police sources said, adding despite repeated cajoling the voters refused to come out to vote as they feared post-poll violence and arson as threatened by the Trinamool Congress.
“TMC goons would come at midnight and threaten us. They would tell us not to vote,” said some locals who dared to ignore the warnings. Most of the others remained indoors. “How can we vote. The CRPF will go away tomorrow. Who will protect us from the goons who will torch our houses, snatch our women and shoot our men,” wondered an old woman from Bhagwanpore.
CPI(M) State secretary Suryakanta Mishra told The Pioneer, “We could not provide polling agents in 135 booths at Nandigram, 72 booths at Khejuri, 62 booths at Bhagwanpur and 25 booths at Patashpur. In the remaining parts of East Midnapore our polling agents were driven away by TMC men from 331 booths. However, by and large the polling was peaceful.”
There are 4,298 booths in East Midnapore and 2,467 booths in Coochbehar where about 59 booths were captured, sources alleged.
The high percentage of polling in these areas was attributed by the Opposition to rampant rigging in the absence of genuine voters and rival agents, Opposition parties claimed. Both Mishra and PCC president Adhir Chowdhury claimed the Congress-left alliance was coming to power while Trinamool’s Mukul Roy said his party was all set to form the “second Government.”
Meanwhile, the post-poll violence continued in various parts of the State. The first report came from Murshidabad where a Trinamool Congress district general secretary Bapi Sarkar was shot. He was rushed to Kolkata in a critical condition. While TMC blamed the Congress for the incident the latter said the incident was a product of intra-party clash.
Two Congress workers were shot at in Malda by alleged Trinamool men, sources said. Both were admitted to Malda Medical College and Hospital. Trinamool goons threw bombs at the house of a former CPI(M) MlA at Behala in Kolkata, police said.