Kolkata: Amid mounting protests over allegations of violence and rampant malpractices during the local body polls, the West Bengal State Election Commission on Sunday decided to postpone the vote count indefinitely in three civic bodies.
“We have decided to put on hold the vote count indefinitely as we have received some allegations. We have also watched some incidents in our web cameras. We have also got some information through SMS from the presiding officers. So we have taken the decision so that we can look into these thoroughly,” state election commissioner Sushanta Ranjan Upadhayay told media persons here.
Allegations of irregularities and violence were received from Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation, Asansol Municipal Corporation and wards of the erstwhile Bally Municipality now merged with the Howrah Municipal Corporation, where polls were held on Saturday. Seventeen journalists, photojournalists and camerapersons were roughed up mercilessly at Bidhananagar, while a woman reporter of a TV channel was threatened with rape by hoodlums allegedly backed by the ruling Trinamool Congress.
