Slugfest, blame game intensify as violence mars Bengal polling

According to the police, while polling was underway around 9.45 am in Cooch Behar’s Sitalkuchi constituency, four people were killed after CISF personnel on election duty, allegedly came under attack by a mob and opened fire.

The killing of five people, including four in firing by Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel, during the fourth phase of the West Bengal assembly elections on Saturday triggered a political slugfest, with the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) demanding the resignation of Union home minister Amit Shah and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accusing the TMC of “instigating people against central forces”.

Security personnel are seen at a polling booth in Sitalkuchi of West Bengal's Cooch Behar district during the fourth phase of polling. (PTI Photo)

According to the police, while polling was underway around 9.45 am in Cooch Behar’s Sitalkuchi constituency, four people were killed after CISF personnel on election duty, allegedly came under attack by a mob and opened fire. In another incident at a different polling station in the constituency, 18-year-old first-time voter Ananda Barma was shot dead allegedly by two men who were later arrested, said Debasish Dhar, superintendent of police, Cooch Behar.

Condoling the deaths while addressing election rallies at Siliguri and Krishnanagar in Nadia district, Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused chief minister and TMC president Mamata Banerjee of instigating people against central forces and said the problem lay with that party’s politics of “rigging elections and violence”.

“What happened in Cooch Behar is very sad. I condole the death of those who died. My sympathies are with their families. The popularity of the BJP has made Didi (Banerjee) and her ruffians nervous. Didi has come down to this level on seeing her chair in danger. I would like to send out a clear message to Didi, TMC and their ruffians that their autocracy will not be allowed anymore,” he said.

The CM, who rushed to North Bengal, demanded the resignation of Shah over the incident, while asserting that a Criminal Investigation Department (CID) probe will be initiated. “The killings were planned. How come not a single news channel captured the incident? The whole thing was planned by the Union home minister. Some people captured the incident on their phones but the videos were deleted. Amit Shah mush resign right now. I have nothing to say against the central forces. They are working under instructions. Before every election, the central forces are creating terror and assaulting women,” she said, addressing a rally in Siliguri.

The PM urged the EC to take stern action against those responsible for the incident. “I appeal to the EC to take strong against those responsible for the Cooch Behar violence. Didi, instigating the people against the central forces, the violence, efforts to disrupt the polling et al cannot save you...”

The EC later ordered the suspension of voting at polling station number 126 of the Sitalkuchi constituency and sought a report on both incidents from district authorities. Repolls will “definitely” be ordered at this booth, a senior EC official said on condition of anonymity. In an order late on Saturday, the poll body also banned the entry of political leaders in the Cooch Behar district for the next 72 hours to maintain law and order.

Chief minister Banerjee said: “Bengal is under an undeclared President’s rule... We will get the incident probed by the CID.”

The incident also triggered sharp reactions from the Congress and the Left parties.

Congress leader P Chidambaram blamed the EC, saying that the incident was a failure of leadership. “I cannot recall in recent years any case of police firing on voting day during elections resulting in four deaths. It is a case of a failure of leadership and management of the deployment of security personnel. Who should bear responsibility?” the former Union minister tweeted.

Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPI(M), state secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra said, “We condemn the death of the voters. This requires a judicial inquiry. It is apparent that steps that should have been taken before the incident were not taken. Certain messages were sent by the Prime Minister and chief ministers from their rallies. The CAPF is not acting impartially. Wasn’t there any scope of using batons or tear gas? We want a transparent report from the EC.”

With agency inputs