KOLKATA: West Bengal on Saturday lived up to its reputation of being infamous for electoral violence as four Trinamool Congress workers were shot and several injured in two districts and in the city due to clashes between Trinamool and Left workers. In one instance, the Election Commission directed the state administration to lodge an FIR against Assembly Deputy Speaker Sonali Guha, who allegedly ordered TMC workers to beat up CPM polling agents — in a phone conversation recorded by a TV channel.
Elections for the fifth phase in 52 Assembly constituencies in Hooghly and South 24 Parganas districts and in the city were marred by violence in many places despite the large presence of Central para military forces.
At Nabagram in the Baruipur Assembly constituency, South 24 Parganas, a clash broke out between TMC and CPM workers, during which the Left workers allegedly opened fire and four ruling party workers suffered pellet injuries and were admitted to a local hospital. The police arrested five CPM workers.
The Election Commission directed the South 24 Parganas district administration to lodge an FIR against Sonali, Assembly Deputy Speaker and TMC nominee for the Satgachhia constituency, after she was seen and heard directing her party workers over telephone to assault a CPM polling agent. “Beat up and throw out the CPM agent from the booth,” Sonali told her followers, immediately after which a polling agent, Sheikh Mujib, was severely beaten up allegedly by TMC men and hospitalised.
Sonali also entered into an altercation with jawans of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police at a polling booth after she entered it and went near the electronic voting machine. Sonali challenged an ITBP DSP, “I am Deputy Speaker of the Assembly. Who are you? You are not from Election Commission.” The DSP replied, “Madam, you are most welcome.”
The EC took cognisance of the matter and sought a report from the district administration. In the same district, some villagers at Canning opened fire on the police and a bus was destroyed. The police chased and resorted to a lathicharge but could not arrest anyone. Clashes broke out between RSP and TMC workers at Basanti in the same district, in which several were injured and seven persons arrested.
At Bhanghar in South 24 Parganas where the TMC nominated former CPM minister Abdur Rezzak Mollah there was a clash between Mollah’s followers and those belonging to TMC panchayat samity member Arabul Islam. The injured alleged, “We are followers of Rezzaksaab and Arabul’s men hit us with gun butts and sticks.” Mollah remarked: “Arabul was earlier a factor but now a tractor.”
In Arambagh in Hooghly district, two CPM agents suffered serious head injuries after they were allegedly beaten up by TMC workers. The police arrested two TMC men. In the same area a TMC local leader, Sheikh Nizamuddin, was arrested after he was seen casting false votes, and the presiding officer was removed by the EC. In Goghat in the same district there were complaints of Forward Bloc nominee Bishwanath Karak being manhandled by TMC workers, five of whom were arrested.
At Singur in Hooghly district, TMC factionalism came out in the open as there was no party polling agents at one of the polling booths of minister Rabindranath Bhattacharya, which was in the locality of another minister and TMC nominee, Becharam Manna. Bhattacharya said, “I will take up the issue with party supremo Mamata Banerjee, as forms had been filled up to depute polling agents.”
At Metiabruz in the western part of Kolkata, clashes broke out in the morning between CPM and TMC workers leading to a lathicharge by police to disperse the warring groups. The para military forces searched buses, vehicles and houses on the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass leading the Kasba constituency on the fringe of the city to evict outsiders without valid voter ID cards who had gathered. The police and the Central forces repeatedly dispersed supporters of TMC nominee and minister Javed Khan from Kasba who had assembled within hundred metres of polling booths, violating prohibitory orders issued under Section 144.
The city witnessed an unprecedented political development. Former chief minister and CPM leader Buddhadeb Bhatacharya for the first time in his life voted for Congress nominee from Ballygunge Krishna Debnath at a polling booth near his residence at Palm Avenue. Bhattacharya was one of the votaries within the CPM who advocated an alliance with the Congress in West Bengal to defeat the TMC.
More surprising was that CPM Lok Sabha member Mohammad Salim too, because of the alliance, voted for the Congress nominee at Bhawanipore, Deepa Dasmusnhi, who is pitted against Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee. Salim had defeated Deepa from the Raigunge parliamentary constituency in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
