The BJP on Friday invoked the memory of a Rajbanshi youth who had died in police firing exactly a year back to polarise the electorate in the Raiganj Lok Sabha segment which recorded 71.87 per cent polling till 5pm.
Mrityunjoy Barman, 33, a resident of Chadga, North Dinajpur district, was shot dead on April 26 last year when law enforcers raided his village in search of people who had vandalised and torched the Kaliaganj police station.
The police station was attacked during the culmination of a march that was organised in protest against the death of a girl who, according to local people, had been murdered.
On Friday, Barman’s family members sat with a photo of the youth near a polling booth.
“I wanted to remind people of the police atrocities which led to my son’s death. We are still waiting for justice and entombed his body in a grave, instead of cremating it according to our tradition. We hope people will vote, keeping the incident in mind,” said 64-year-old Rabindranath, Mrityunjoy’s father.
Along with BJP supporters who were not carrying the party flag, Rabindranath sat near the polling booth at Mirjagarh FP School in Chadga throughout the day.
The BJP had raised Burman’s death to reap political dividends and tried to create a communal divide over the issue. The deceased youth’s family has been demanding
a CBI probe into the police firing.
After the elections were announced, Raiganj BJP candidate Kartik Pal, who is from Kaliaganj, paid homage to the slain youth at Chadga and launched his campaign.
BJP insiders said hundreds of party workers were engaged, especially in the Assembly segments of Raiganj, Kaliaganj and Hemtabad, on Friday to “remind” voters about the incident.
“Our workers didn’t carry party flags. When voters walked to the booths, the workers showed them Mrityunjoy’s photo on cellphones. The police had unleashed terror during the raid and the youth was a victim. We wanted people to remember it before they vote,” said Arun Barman, a BJP leader of Radhikapur near Raiganj.
In North Dinajpur, Muslims constitute around 50 per cent of the population. “That is why the BJP tried to polarise the votes to corner the Trinamool Congress which is facing a stiff challenge as the Congress fielded a Muslim, Ali Imran Ramz, in the Raiganj constituency,” said a political observer.
The constituency has a good number of Rajbanshis also.
Kanaialal Agarwala, the North Dinajpur district Trinamool president, said: “The BJP has been trying to reap political dividends from an unfortunate incident. The state government has ordered a CID probe and taken all steps to ensure that the family gets justice. Earlier, the BJP had raised the Daribhit incident. We don’t think voters have paid heed to the BJP’s campaign. Instead, voters focussed on the development plank.”