The third phase of Lok Sabha polls in Bengal, where Malda Uttar, Malda Dakshin, Murshidabad and Jangipur went for polls on Tuesday, was more peaceful than expected, barring a few incidents of violence. The Election Commission said it received more than 450 complaints from these four seats till evening and more than 90 per cent could be resolved on time. The Telegraph lists some complaints and their status by the end of the day.
Assault
Where: Booth-155, Naimouza Junior Girls’ High School, Sujapur, Malda Dakshin constituency.
What: Three Trinamool workers, including a polling agent, were allegedly assaulted by a Congress worker.
Charge: Trinamool alleged that the Congress did it intentionally to create terror and intimidate the voters. The Congress denied the charges.
Officialspeak: Additional police forces were deployed in the area soon after the incident was reported and the injured were sent to the Malda Medical College and Hospital. A probe is on.
Entry barred
Where: Booth 201, Chandmuni High Madrasah, Ratua, Malda Uttar.
What: Congress polling agents were prevented from entering the booth.
Charge: The Congress alleged that the Trinamool prevented their polling agents only to ensure malpractice in the booth. Trinamool denied it.
Officialspeak: Issue was resolved soon after local police intervened.
Forced exit
Where: Booth 91, Malda town, Malda Dakshin.
What: Some state police personnel allegedly forced the election agent of the BJP to leave the booth. Sreerupa Mitra Choudhury, the BJP candidate, reached the spot to protest.
Charge: Sreerupa alleged that the state police were acting at Trinamool's behest. Trinamool denied the charge and said the ruling party has no connection with this incident.
Officialspeak: The accused state police personnel were removed from the booth.
Beaten up
Where: Booth 227, Ratua, Malda Uttar
What: The BJP polling agent was allegedly assaulted.
Charge: The BJP blamed Trinamool. Khagen Murmu, the BJP candidate, said he faced demonstrations from Trinamool supporters when he reached the booth. Trinamool denied the charges saying the BJP candidate ran into spontaneous local resistance.
Officialspeak: Polling was disturbance-free.
Names omitted
Where: Booth 87, Gayeshpur Primary School, Malda Dakshin;
What: Around 10 voters, mostly senior citizens, couldn’t vote as they were shown dead in the electoral roll.
Charge: The BJP alleged that Trinamool intentionally omitted the voter names.
Officialspeak: Probe is on.
Poll boycott
Where: Booth 122, Radhakanta Primary School, Habibpur, Malda Uttar
What: None of the 1,350-odd voters cast their votes, alleging pathetic road conditions in the area.
Charge: Authorities did nothing about bad roads.
Officialspeak: The Malda SDO and officials of the block administration visited the booth and urged protesters to vote, but to no avail.
Protest
Where: Booth 208, Palpara ICDS Centre, Murshidabad.
Incident: Around 7pm, after polling ended, Nazrul Islam, the presiding officer, along with his team and central forces, started walking towards a junction 2km away, carrying the EVM. A bus awaited them but allegedly Trinamool supporters demanded they carry the EVM in an official vehicle. Polling officers returned to the booth.
Charge: Trinamool alleged that carrying the EVM in a bus made it vulnerable to snatching or tampering.
Officialspeak: A vehicle was sent to the booth to pick the team up.
