Desperation and audacity of Trinamool Congress mercenaries has grown by each passing phase of Bengal Assembly elections. This was evident on Thursday as
alleged ruling party supporters killed one person and injured dozens others in the third phase of polls.
Running amok in Murshidabad district, Trinamool goons bombed, stabbed and shot dead a CPI(M) polling agent within yards of a polling booth at Shiripar-Jitpur in Domkal constituency because he had protested rigging. Victim’s daughter said local Trinamool panchayat pradhan led the attack.
While the Opposition charged the district administration of being complacent, former State ADG and an Independent candidate from Domkal Nazrul Islam said, “We had repeatedly cautioned the administration and the observer giving the names of the Trinamool criminals at large. But nothing was done.”
Domkal constituency turned into a veritable war zone with police recovering dozens of unspent socket bombs and bottle bombs from paddy fields.
Curiously the biggest joke came at the end of the day from the Chief Electoral Officer’s office when they said the purity of the EVM was preserved hence countermanding of the polls as per the Opposition’s demand was not required.
While Tohidul died others suffered grievous injuries at Ketugram in Burdwan, Chakdaha and Kalyani in Nadia, Beleghata and Kashipur-Belgachia in North Kolkata.
Not only this, a woman candidate in booth number 208 at Khandaghosh in Burdwan was even molested by Trinamool goons because she protested booth capturing.
Union Minister Babul Supriyo was accosted by Trinamool men at Jorasanko when he, along with his parents, went out to vote. The Minister chased and caught one of the goons and handed him over to police.
“Police released the man after I caught and handed him over to them,” he said.
Though the CEO expressed satisfaction at the “peaceful vote” the reports of ongoing violence led even Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was on an election rally in Kolkata, to say “in other States we see peaceful vote in Bengal we say how many people were killed, how many bombs were hurled and how many shots were fired.”
At Ketugram a long queue of voters was bombed, and an elector’s leg was broken as he refused to go away. Another voter lal Chowdhury’s ear was chopped off at Katmur because he dared to vote against the ruling party. Massive bombing was reported Raina-Paschimpara in Burdwan, sources said.
Such violent was the Thursday’s phase that CEO Sunil Gupta in the evening told the media that the EC received a whopping 2,777 complaints. There were 1,800 complaints in the first phase while about 800 in the second phase.
Hundreds of voters from at least three villages in Raina were literally confined to their homes following massive bombing by Trinamool men. Repeated complaints to Returning Officer’s office yielded no result.
Bombs were hurled at voters at Karimpur, Sahebpara, Gayeshpur in Nadia. At Bhaina in Bagula a dozen booths were captured. At Jitpur, Saguna, Mangalkot, Galsi in Burdwan vast areas were bombed with literally no Central force to be seen around, locals complained.
Back in Kolkata, hired Trinamool goons from nearby districts jammed booths threatened and turned the voters away even as Central forces looked the other way.
“We were physically shoved away by some flabby men,” complained an octogenarian educationist from Beliaghata. At Kashipur-Belgachia, Anwar Hussain -- a TMC leader and a murder accused, who was under house arrest -- was heard instructing his men over phone to “shoe up the EC and paint its face in black.” Soon after, he went mysteriously missing --- from the clutch of two police officers --- only to be re-arrested three hours later. No action was taken against the erring cops.
Another local leader and accused Swapan Chakrabarty similarly interned by the Commission also evaded police glare to supervise polling, sources alleged. He too reappeared hours later amid allegations of police complicity.
On Thursday, 62 constituencies went to poll across four districts. Notwithstanding the violence Murshidabad saw 79.29 percent voting, Nadia witnessed 81.62 votes, about 57.05 percent voters exercised their rights in Kolkata and 78.26 percent voted in Burdwan.