‘Take precautionary steps’: TMC’s Dibyendu Adhikari writes to Purba Medinipur DM

Dibyendu Adhikari, the brother of BJP leader Suvendu, in a letter to the official, said that he had apprehensions of a disruption in communal harmony in Purba Medinipur. Nandigram, from where TMC chief and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee is pitted against Suvendu Adhikari, is in the district.

Trinamool Congress (TMC) lawmaker Dibyendu Adhikari has urged the district magistrate of West Bengal’s Purba Medinipur to take “all precautionary measures well in advance,” saying “existing communal harmony may be blatantly disrupted,” news agency ANI reported on Friday.

Security personnel stand guard as T TMC supporters raise slogans during a West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee visits polling booth, in Nandigram on Thursday. (ANI Photo)

The assembly constituency of Nandigram, where TMC chief and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee is contesting the ongoing assembly elections, is in Purba Medinipur. Banerjee is pitted against her former aide and Adhikari’s brother, Suvendu, who is the sitting MLA from this seat, and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) last December.

“I personally apprehend that the existing communal harmony may be blatantly disrupted, resulting in complete ruin in normal, peaceful living of the people residing here,” Adhikari wrote in his letter to district magistrate and the district election officer, according to ANI. The letter was written on Thursday, the day Nandigram and 29 other assembly constituencies went to the polls in the second phase of the elections.

“I therefore earnestly request your good-office to take all precautionary measures well in advance to maintain existing communal harmony for the greater interest of integrated and peaceful life of the people here,” the Lok Sabha MP from the eastern state’s Tamluk constituency added.

HT has not verified the letter written by the Trinamool leader.

Banerjee and the TMC have alleged “polling disruption” in Nandigram, a charge dismissed by the Election Commission of India (ECI). The chief minister reached one of the booths where she arrived after receiving reports of “rigging.” During her presence at the booth, which lasted for nearly two hours, supporters of her TMC almost came to blows with those from the opposition BJP.

Addressing the media after being escorted out of the polling station, Banerjee accused Union home minister Amit Shah of directing central forces to help only the BJP and its “goons.” The two-time chief minister, who is seeking a third term, also alleged that the commission is “one-sidedly supporting the BJP candidates.” She further accused the poll body of not acting on 63 complaints filed by her party regarding “booth capturing” and threatened to move court.

Responding to the chief minister's allegations, Suvendu Adhikari told news ANI that it has become her habit to insult the people of Nandigram. Her political ground is slipping away. What she did is illegal. Stopping at a polling station on a voting day is a violation of the model code of conduct," the BJP leader said.

With Thursday’s second round of voting, the polling has been completed in 60 assembly constituencies. Over six more phases, 234 other constituencies will vote and the final round is scheduled for April 29. Counting for all the 294 seats will be held on May 2.