Gokul Chandra De, 67, a BJP activist in Deganga, was seen on Saturday frantically trying to contact the BJP's Basirhat candidate, Rekha Patra, on her mobile phone. She didn't respond. De then tried contacting senior party leader Suvendu Adhikari on his mobile number which he has often shared with party supporters at public meetings, but in vain.
A visibly upset De then requested reporters to share the phone numbers of other senior BJP state leaders.
Reason: the elderly man wanted his party leaders to draw the attention of the Election Commission towards "violent" Trinamool Congress activists "adopting unfair means" at many polling stations under the Haroa Assembly segment of Basirhat Lok Sabha constituency.
No one took his calls.
Not just De, many other BJP activists in the vast stretches of Barasat and Basirhat Lok Sabha constituencies experienced their leaders' apathy on Saturday during the seventh and final phase of polling.
Leaders like Adhikari, Patra or the BJP's Barasat candidate, Swapan Majumdar, did not turn up in most cases to support them against "aggressive" Trinamool workers. Patra was seen mostly busy in Sandeshkhali. Majumdar, who promised to face Trinamool with “chyala kaath” (timber stick) did not turn up in difficult areas of Deganga, Ashok Nagar, which traditionally are known to give a big lead to Trinamool.
BJP workers alleged that in Assembly segments like Habra, Ashok Nagar, Rajarhat New Town and Deganga, Trinamool silently managed the poll in their favour by unleashing terror. In 2019, sitting Trinamool MP Kakali Ghosh Dastidar secured a lead of about 77,000 votes.
In Basirhat, BJP activists alleged that Bengal's ruling party outnumbered them with "silent terror" and managed the poll in their favour in Assembly segments like Baduria, Haroa, Minakhan, and Hingalganj.
Complaints at the local level of the police administration yielded little response when BJP workers frantically called senior state leaders and the candidate to draw the attention of the Election Commission. The absence of strong organisation on the ground was more telling.
Gokul Chandra De, a voter and BJP supporter under the Haroa segment of Basirhat, despite living in Deganga town, alleged: “Since morning, Trinamool activists have been randomly carrying out proxy voting in Moulapota, Hachhela, Hossainpur and Madhabpur villages by unleashing terror. We felt helpless…. We all tried to contact party leaders for action through the EC but failed to draw the attention of any of our leaders."
In Ashok Nagar BJP’s Mandal-I president Tapas Kahar was brutally beaten up when he tried to protest Trinamool workers' attempts to prevent voters’ access to the polling station. Kahar had to be hospitalised.
"We expected Swapan da would turn up to face the challenge of Trinamool.... But he chose safe zones," a BJP activist in Ashok Nagar said. "Strong support was needed to prevent Trinamool's unfair votes. We failed (to prevent Trinamool)," he added.
In Bahira Kalibari area of Sandelia under Haroa police station, a large number of BJP supporters had to flee homes on Friday night as armed Trinamool activists allegedly took away their voter ID cards and warned them against trying to vote.
A youth from Bahira, who said he was a BJP supporter but did not want to be identified, alleged: “Since 2016, we aren't allowed to cast our votes."
A BJP leader in Deganga said they were "rather thankful" to the ISF "who at least tried to challenge Trinamool terror”.
Patra and Majumdar did not respond to the calls of this correspondent.