The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPI(M), moved separate petitions before the Calcutta high court on Monday alleging widespread violence and rigging during the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) elections on Sunday.
The petitions, which also demanded a re-poll, were filed before the division bench of chief justice Prakash Shrivastava and justice Rajarshi Bhardwaj. The petitions will be heard on December 23, said lawyers aware of the developments.
The results to the polls are to be announced on Tuesday.
Three people were injured in a crude bomb explosion near Taki Boy’s School in north-east Kolkata on Sunday. There was also chaos inside at least two polling booths, and more than a dozen sporadic clashes broke out leading to more than 70 arrests. Five candidates, including one from the Trinamool Congress (TMC), were injured.
While opposition parties alleged rampant violence and electoral malpractice, chief minister Mamata Banerjee and the state election commission said on Sunday that the polls were peaceful.
After casting her vote, the chief minister said: “I am happy people voted peacefully. Kolkata Police is carrying out its duties efficiently.”
{{/usCountry}}After casting her vote, the chief minister said: “I am happy people voted peacefully. Kolkata Police is carrying out its duties efficiently.”
{{/usCountry}}The BJP had earlier moved the high court seeking deployment of central armed police forces (CAPF) during the polls, citing alleged killings after the March-April assembly polls as the grounds for its apprehension that BJP candidates and voters may be targeted.
The BJP’s petition was rejected by a single bench on Thursday and the division bench of the chief justice on Friday. The party challenged the order in the Supreme Court, but no hearing was held on Sunday.
Though the high court division bench rejected the BJP’s plea on Friday, it did not close the matter, and said it will hear all parties again on December 23, and by then the state government and the state election commission (SEC) should file their reports.
During the hearing, the SEC and the state government told the division bench that adequate police arrangements were made for the polls. Reacting to this, the chief justice said, “We have kept it (the matter) pending to see if what has been stated in this court is being complied with.”
BJP and CPI(M) leaders also held protests in Kolkata on Monday afternoon. Their workers confronted the police and broke through barricades. Unruly scenes were witnessed outside the BJP state headquarters in central Kolkata and near the SEC’s office.
The two opposition parties, as well as the Congress, demanded re-poll in all 144 municipal wards of Kolkata of which the TMC currently controls 126. BJP and Congress leaders also met governor Jagdeep Dhankhar with their appeal.
“The election was a farce. The police worked under instructions from Mamata Banerjee who is also the home minister,” said BJP state vice-president Jay Prakash Majumdar.
The ruling party brushed aside the allegations.
“This is cheap politics. None of these parties could find candidates to contest the polls and are now making lame excuses. The BJP is under pressure from its central leaders. They have to show some activity to save their existence,” said cabinet minister Firhad Hakim, a former Kolkata mayor who contested the polls.