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‘BJP won’t win, TMC will get 90% votes in Nandigram’, claims Mamata Banerjee
Mamata Banerjee also trained guns at Union home minister Amit Shah saying he was instructing central forces to assist “BJP goons.”
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee sharpened her stance against the Election Commission of India alleging that the poll body was siding with the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and also accused it of inaction over several complaints filed by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Thursday.
“Whatever you (Election Commission) try, BJP will not win. In Nandigram, 90% of the votes will go to TMC,” Banerjee was quoted as saying by news agency ANI, after she visited one of the polling stations in the Nandigram constituency and alleged that many voters were not being allowed to vote. She also lodged a complaint regarding the same with governor Jagdeep Dhankar over the same.
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The West Bengal chief minister’s comments come after chaos for nearly two hours when she reached the polling booth to oversee the voting process. Intense sloganeering could be heard as Banerjee sat inside the booth, with loud iterations of BJP's 'Jai Shree Ram', ANI reported.
The TMC supremo also trained guns at Union home minister Amit Shah saying he was instructing central forces to assist “BJP goons.” “Home Minister himself is instructing CRPF, BSF, and other jawans to help only BJP and its goons. I apologise to my Election Commission for their silence. We have given so many letters but they are one-sidedly supporting BJP candidates,” she was quoted as saying.
Banerjee claimed that 63 complaints regarding booth capturing have been sent to the EC and slammed the poll body for “inaction.”
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The EC, meanwhile, sought a detailed report from the administration in connection with an incident of violence in Boyal area in Nandigram, news agency PTI reported.
Her opponent from the Nandigram seat, Suvendu Adhikari, who was once known to be Banerjee’s close aide, accused her of disrupting polling for nearly two hours and said that she was indulging in “drama”. “Mamata stalled voting for 2 hours here. Around 90% of voting has happened in Nandigram but it is only 78% at this booth. Voting is going on peacefully here. There is no issue. There is no worker of TMC in this area. She is doing drama,” the BJP leader told ANI.
Voting is being held across 30 constituencies of the eastern state in the second phase of assembly elections. West Bengal is witnessing polls in eight phases ending April 29. The results of the assembly elections will be declared on May 2.
