Voting was underway on Tuesday for four Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal with reports of violence surfacing from certain pockets in two constituencies in Murshidabad district.
Polling is also underway for the by-elections for the Bhagabangola Assembly constituency in Murshidabad district which was necessitated by the untimely demise of the erstwhile Trinamool Congress legislator Idris Ali.
Tension mounted at Domkal in Murshidabad district even before the beginning following the alleged hurling of bombs targeting the residence of a local Congress leader there. As the tension started mounting further, the quick response team of the Central Armed Police Forces personnel reached the spot and brought the situation under control.
Soon after the polling started tension started mounting at Raninagar, also in Murshidabad district, after the booth agent of CPI(M) was forcefully thrown out of an election booth. Allegedly chased by the ruling Trinamool Congress activists, the CPI(M) agent, Mostaqim Sheikh, managed to flee somehow and hide in a banana garden in the area.
The CPI(M) state secretary in West Bengal, Md Salim, the party candidate from Murshidabad constituency, alleged that threatening of their party workers and agents in different pockets of the constituency started early Tuesday morning.
The BJP candidate from Malda, Dakshin Sreerupa Mitra Chaudhury, also raised similar allegations of one of her female booth agents being forcefully driven out of the polling booth in the English Bazar area in that constituency. Finally, she reached the particular booth and ensured the entry of her agent in the booth.
Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah through a message written in Bengali and posted on his official X handle, issued an appeal to the people of West Bengal to vote on Tuesday with the target of ensuring the formation of a government that will ensure the dignity of women, strong action against illegal infiltration and end of appeasement politics.
