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Slugfest heats up ahead of last five Bengal poll phases
Polling has been completed in 91 of the 294 assembly seats in the state, which will see five more phases of elections. The fourth phase of voting will see 44 constituencies in north and south Bengal districts go to the polls on April 10.
Political parties stepped up offensive against rivals while campaigning for the fourth phase of Bengal assembly elections on Wednesday, with Union home minister Amit Shah hitting out at the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and expressing confidence over Bharatiya Janata Party’s victory in the state, while chief minister Mamata Banerjee criticised the BJP for allegedly resorting to unfair poll practices.
Polling has been completed in 91 of the 294 assembly seats in the state, which will see five more phases of elections. The fourth phase of voting will see 44 constituencies in north and south Bengal districts go to the polls on April 10.
Shah on Wednesday addressed back-to-back rallies and roadshows in Hooghly, Howrah and Kolkata for a dozen BJP candidates, including MP Babul Supriyo (who is contesting from Tollygunge in south Kolkata) and former TMC minister Rajib Banerjee (who is contesting from Domjur in Howrah from where he was previously elected twice).
At his road show in Howrah, Shah touted his party’s development push and said his party will win between 63-68 of the 91 assembly seats where polls have been held in the first three phases of voting.
“Do you want a government that thrives on kickbacks and serves only the nephew? ” Shah asked a crowd at Sankrail in Howrah, in an apparent reference to TMC leader and chief minister’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee.
Earlier in the day, Shah also had lunch at the residence of rickshaw driver Sishir Sana in Howrah.
Meanwhile, CM Banerjee triggered a controversy on Wednesday for her remarks against paramilitary personnel on poll duty.
Banerjee, addressing a rally at Cooch Behar district in north Bengal, asked supporters to “keep an eye” on Central Reserve Police Force personnel near polling booths. “Keep an eye on CRPF personnel. Gherao them because they do not let people cast their votes. While one team will engage them in conversations, the other team will cast votes. This is how everyone can exercise their franchise,” she said.
“The BJP’s CRPF is beating women, harassing and killing people. They are obstructing voters from entering polling booths and to cast their votes. Union home minister Amit Shah has instructed them to do so,” she said, adding: “I respect the CRPF. But, I do not have respect for those among them who are working at the behest of the BJP. The CRPF should not obstruct the public from casting their votes.”
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State BJP leader Shishir Bajoria lodged a complaint with chief electoral officer (CEO) Aariz Aftab in Kolkata and demanded that Banerjee be stopped from campaigning and her party derecognised. The statement against security forces was “seditious and anti-national”, the BJP leader wrote in the letter to the CEO.
An official at the CEO’s office said the district magistrate of Cooch Behar has been asked to submit a report.
Banerjee, whose party has accused the Election Commission of being “biased” towards the BJP, was also asked by the Election Commission to explain her remark within 48 hours on a remark asking the Muslim community not to vote for the BJP.
The BJP also alleged that after Banerjee’s speech in Cooch Behar on Wednesday, TMC workers in the district’s Sitalkuchi attacked the vehicle in which state president Dilip Ghosh was travelling in, and that BJP candidate Dipak Kumar Roy had faced a similar incident in Sitai constituency. The TMC’s district president Partha Pratim Roy dismissed the allegation
“We told the CEO that by making such statements Banerjee may trigger untoward incidents,” Bajoria added.
Trinamool Congress’s state spokesperson Kunal Ghosh responded, saying: “There is terrible infighting in the BJP in that region. It is quite possible that the alleged vandalism was a fallout of that. TMC flags can be found everywhere. Anybody can pick them up. The TMC is not involved in this.”
At a rally in Cooch Behar, the chief minister also warned people not to allow BJP to win votes through cash. “Do not take money from the BJP for casting votes. It is a sin,” she said, referring to a ₹1,000 coupon purportedly distributed by the BJP to residents of Raidighi in South 24 Parganas in exchange for votes ahead of the third phase of polling.
“This is absolutely baseless. Our party never distributes such coupons. The EC will find out the truth if it conducts a probe,” said Bengal BJP’s chief spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya.
On Wednesday, Uttar Pradesh chief minister and BJP leader Yogi Adityanath too addressed rallies in the Darjeeling hill region, where polls will be held in the fifth phase on April 17.
Polling in all eight phases will be held on April 29 and counting on votes on April 29.
