Bhabanipur: Amidst voting going on for Bhabanipur bypoll, BJP candidate Priyanka Tibrewal alleged that Trinamool Congress (TMC) was purposely shutting down voting machines at a polling booth of ward number 72 in an attempt at capturing the booth.
The Bhabanipur candidate reached the polling booth to inspect the situation.
Speaking to media persons here, Tibrewal said, "TMC's Madan Mitra has purposely shut the voting machine here as he wants to capture the booth." Bypolls are being conducted on Thursday in three assembly constituencies in West Bengal - Bhabanipur, Samserganj, and Jangipur.
All eyes are on the Bhabanipur byelection as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is contesting from here. Bhabanipur bypoll has become a 'prestige' battle for West Bengal Chief Minister.
Notably, Mamata Banerjee was defeated by BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari in the Nandigram constituency in the Assembly elections held earlier this year.
Following this, the Bhabanipur Assembly seat was vacated by the West Bengal Agriculture Minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay in May, making way for West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to contest from Bhabanipur seat as a move to continue to hold her post.
Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded 41-year-old Priyanka Tibrewal against the TMC supremo.
A lawyer by profession, Tibrewal is the vice-president of the West Bengal unit of BJP Yuva Morcha. She is also the petitioner in the Calcutta High Court against the post-poll violence in the state. Notably, the High Court has ordered a CBI probe in violence in West Bengal after the Assembly elections.
Earlier, BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh was allegedly pushed and heckled by TMC supporters in Bhabanipur assembly constituency, provoking his security officer to whip out a pistol, as political temperature rose on the last day of electioneering for the bypoll.
The BJP then demanded that the elections be cancelled till adequate security measures are in place. But the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday refused to stay the upcoming bypoll.
The Kolkata Police imposed restrictions under Section 144 of CrPC within 200-metre radius of polling stations in Bhabanipur Assembly constituency from Tuesday evening, as per directions by the Election Commission. The restrictions will be imposed till the conclusion of voting on September 30.
The order came after a delegation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) met the Election commission of India (ECI) over violence and issues related to West Bengal by-elections on Tuesday.
The Mamata Banerjee-led TMC registered a landslide victory in polls winning 213 seats in the 294-member West Bengal assembly. The BJP lost the polls but emerged as the second-largest party with 77 seats.
