Although the first phase of polling for the Lok Sabha election has been majorly incident-free till noon, workers of the Trinamool Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party clashed in West Bengal, and a CRPF officer suffered injury in an IED blast in Bastar, Chattisgarh.
A Central Reserve Police Force officer suffered injuries in an IED blast by Naxalites in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district during polling in Bastar constituency, PTI reported. Also, a CRPF jawan deployed on poll duty in a polling booth near Galgam village in Bastar constituency suffered injuries when a shell of Under Barrel Grenade Launcher (UBGL) accidentally exploded.
Sporadic incidents of violence marred the first phase of Lok Sabha polls in the three parliamentary constituencies in Bengal- Cooch Behar, Alipurduars and Jalpaiguri.
TMC and the BJP workers clashed with each other in various parts of violence-prone Cooch Behar seat. Both the TMC and the BJP have lodged 80 and 39 complaints respectively, related to poll violence, voter intimidation, and assaults on poll agents in the first few hours of polling, sources from both parties said. Most of the complaints were from Cooch Behar and Alipurduars constituencies.
"We have received a few complaints, but we have no reports of violence so far," a senior officer at the CEO's office said. All three seats are reserved, with Cooch Behar and Jalpaiguri for SCs and Alipurduars for STs. A total of 37 candidates, including Union Minister and BJP leader Nisith Pramanik (Cooch Behar), are in the fray in the three constituencies.
The TMC alleged that BJP workers had thrashed polling agents in Sitalkuchi area of the Cooch Behar constituency and voters were stopped from entering a few booths. The saffron camp denied the allegations and accused the TMC of intimidating voters.
Sitalkuchi, one of the most violence-prone areas of the state, witnessed widespread violence during the last assembly polls, leading to the death of four people in firing by central forces. Television footage showed that in Mathabhanga area of the district, TMC and BJP workers clashed, resulting in injuries on both sides. Workers from both parties confronted each other following allegations of voter intimidation.
In another area of Mathabhanga, TMC workers staged a protest following allegations that central forces were assisting BJP workers in rigging votes at some booths in the area. The TMC block president from Bethguri, Anant Barman, was hospitalised after allegedly being beaten up by BJP members. "The BJP, along with central forces, has unleashed a reign of terror to rig the elections. Our workers are being harassed and beaten," North Bengal Development Minister Udayan Guha said.
The BJP said that in the Cooch Behar South area, party members were kidnapped by TMC members, and polling agents were prevented from entering booths. In Mathabhanga area, five BJP workers were injured and hospitalised after being attacked by TMC members, a district BJP leader said.
In the Alipurduras constituency, the TMC alleged that CRPF personnel and BJP leaders were threatening and harassing voters, forcing them to vote for the saffron camp. The BJP denied the allegations.
Meanwhile, in Tamil Nadu, an elderly voter who was waiting in queue at a polling booth to cast his vote died. The deceased was identified as N.Palaniswami (65), a resident of Suramangalam, Salem. He was waiting for his turn at a polling booth in Sooramangalam, under Salem constituency when he collapsed, police said. Though he was rushed to a medical facility nearby, doctors pronounced his death, police said.
-with inputs from agencies.
