A polling official was allegedly assaulted during an election training session at a Block Development Office in West Bengal’s Nadia district on Friday after he flagged a violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).
The Election Commission (EC) has sought a report from the Nadia district election officer and ordered an FIR. “An FIR has been lodged against two persons who were directly involved in the alleged assault on the polling official,” said a senior district official.
Saikat Chattopadhyay, a school teacher who had come to attend the training, alleged that at the beginning of the session a promotional advertisement featuring West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee was shown.
“I was surrounded and beaten up. The BDO himself led the assault. I was threatened. I am feeling insecure. How can free and fair elections be conducted like this?” Chattopadhyay told the media.
“I was the venue in-charge. I was there since the morning. This is a blatant lie. He was not assaulted,” Sayantan Bhattacharya, the BDO of Hanskhali block, told the media.
This has sparked a sharp political face-off between the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the assembly elections.
{{/usCountry}}This has sparked a sharp political face-off between the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the assembly elections.
{{/usCountry}}“TMC goons on a rampage again, this time in Ranaghat. This is not an isolated incident. This is the TMC’s culture of terror, where even a humble teacher exercising his democratic right and performing a constitutionally mandated duty during election-related training is thrashed and threatened,” Suvendu Adhikari, BJP leader, wrote on X.
“This school teacher is associated with the BJP. The allegations are baseless and imaginary. Union home minister Amit Shah is coming. Ahead of that, the BJP is trying to make such allegations to divert the attention of the people from the SIR issue,” TMC leader Arup Chakraborty said.