Kolkata: West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose on Saturday held an urgent meeting with State Election Commissioner Rajiva Sinha at Governor House after sporadic violence remained unabated even on the second day of filing nomination for upcoming rural polls scheduled on July 8.
Talking to the media, Bose said that incidents of violence will ‘not’ be tolerated. “I had a meeting with the state election commissioner so that free and fair elections can be ensured. Violence will not be tolerated,” said the West Bengal Governor.
Incident of violence
At Domkal area in Murshidabad district, Congress and CPI (M) alleged that stones were pelted at their procession by alleged Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers while they were going to file the nomination. The Congress-Left Front also claimed that the TMC supporters had gheraoed the Block Development Officer (BDO) office. Amidst the ruckus, a local TMC leader in Domkal, Bashir Mollah, was arrested after firearms were found from his procession.
On Friday a Congress supporter Fhulchand Sheikh was shot dead allegedly by TMC workers. Incidents of violence were also reported at Labhpur in Birbhum district where a BJP candidate was allegedly stopped from filing nomination and was beaten by alleged TMC goons.
Apart from these areas, a government worker was allegedly beaten at Bhangor in North 24 Parganas after an Indian Secular Front (ISF) candidate went to file his nomination.
Political barbs
A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) delegation went to meet the Governor earlier this day requesting to install CCTV cameras both inside and outside polling booths and counting stations.
BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar said, “We have requested the Governor to see that the civic volunteers and para teachers are not involved in the polling system. They are contractual workers and if they don’t abide by the instructions of the state government then their job will be at stake. We asked him about installing CCTV cameras and also spoke about deployment of central forces as we can see that state police cannot curb violence.”
TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh giving the example of lone Congress MLA Byron Biswas who had defected to TMC said, “Even if anyone wins from the opposition that person out of his own will join TMC. After one gets to know how the central government is depriving Bengal and how our Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is running all the developmental schemes, all will later have Byron syndrome and will join TMC.”
State Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury slammed the ruling party claiming that violence and TMC is ‘synonymous’.
