Reports of violence between Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the BJP are coming out of West Bengal where polling for the 5th phase of the Lok Sabha elections 2019 is underway. Soon the polling began in the Howrah district, a BJP worker named Prashant Sharma was brutally beaten up by some unidentified people in Farsor Road. Sharma was immediately rushed to the hospital as he was bleeding profusely.
Clashes also broke out between the TMC and the BJP cadre in Barrackpore in which BJP candidate Arjun Singh sustained injuries after being attacked.
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The scuffle reportedly started when a woman in Amtala’s Mohanpur complained to Arjun Singh about her son, a BJP polling candidate, was not allowed to enter the polling booth and could not be found later. She alleged that the TMC workers threatened that they would be murdered after May 23. Hearing the grievance of the woman, Singh helped locate her son named Tapas Das and made him sit in the booth. This led to a scuffle between the workers of both the parties. However, the TMC alleged that Singh was trying to intimidate the voters.
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There were also reports of EVMs being vandalised amidst violence in Hooghly in West Bengal. The Election Commission has sought a report from the administration regarding the attack on Arjun Singh. BJP has demanded complete repolling in Barrackpore Lok Sabha constituency alleging rigging and hooliganism by the TMC.