As voting for the bypolls commenced in three constituencies of West Bengal on Thursday, reports of violence and misconduct have surfaced in the media.
Bhartiya Janta Party’s (BJP) Bhabanipur candidate Priyanka Tibrewal has accused Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA Madan Mitra of ‘purposely shutting the voting machine to capture the booth.’
Madan Mitra (TMC MLA) has purposely shut the voting machine here as he wants to capture the booth: Priyanka Tibrewal, BJP candidate for Bhabanipur by-poll at polling booth of ward number 72 pic.twitter.com/lFB5hQytTY
— ANI (@ANI) September 30, 2021
The Bhabanipur constituency has garnered sharp attention as the poll result will decide the fate of TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee as a Chief Minister. Standing against her from BJP is Tibrewal an advocate by profession who had joined the BJP in the year 2014.
Tibrewal’s candidature was much talked about for two reasons. First, she is one of the petitioners in the plea filed in the Bengal post-poll violence cases, which have led to the Calcutta High Court ordering CBI and SIT probes in the cases. Her petition has also led the high court order for a second autopsy of BJP worker Abhijit Sarkar, who was killed in post-poll violence on May 2.
Second, by fielding Tibrewal, BJP has tried to pit a daughter of Bengal against another daughter of Bengal (as Mamata Banerjee calls herself one).
Bombs hurled in Samserganj
Reportedly, bombs were hurled in West Bengal’s Samserganj just before the polling began. This is despite the tight security measures undertaken at polling booths.
Prohibitory orders under Section 144 have been imposed within 200 metres of the polling booths. There will be a heavy deployment of forces, including quick response teams, in Bhabanipur. Security has also been heightened in the Samserganj constituency.
The voting will continue till 6:30 PM on 30th September and the result will be declared on 3rd October.
