A stone-throwing mob forced a candidate to flee on Saturday as the sixth phase of the general election in Bengal witnessed sporadic violence, particularly in BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari’s backyard of the two Midnapores, including his Assembly constituency Nandigram.
A group of men and women villagers, allegedly Trinamool Congress supporters, pelted BJP Jhargram candidate Pranat Tudu and his two central force guards with bricks, chasing them away.
A brick hit Tudu in the head, leaving him with minor injuries. His two guards too suffered head injuries. The agitators ransacked Tudu’s car and a vehicle belonging to the ABP Ananda news channel.
The incident took place at a village in Garbeta, West Midnapore, that comes under Jhargram constituency.
“The chief minister has turned these areas similar to Sandeshkhali. I have returned alive from the spot because my security personnel were accompanying me,” Tudu told reporters.
He and his guards later received preliminary treatment at a rural hospital.
Sources said Tudu had come to Booth No. 200 in Mangalapota village in the afternoon after being told that BJP supporters were not being allowed to vote.
As soon as he arrived, a group of villagers gathered before him, kept up a chant of “Go back”, slammed the BJP for the Centre freezing funds for the 100-day job scheme, and then attacked Tudu, the sources added.
“I received information that TMC goons had threatened to burn my workers alive if they arrived to vote. So, I went to the booth,” Tudu said.
Trinamool dismissed Tudu’s accusations and alleged that his security beat up a woman, provoking villagers into retaliation.
“Security personnel of Jhargram BJP candidate Pranat Tudu attacked a woman who was standing in queue to cast her vote. Tudu should apologise to her,” Bengal finance minister Chandrima Bhattacharya said.
BJP leaders said the attack on Tudu was part of a larger Trinamool ploy to prevent BJP candidates from reaching vulnerable pockets where Bengal’s ruling party was allegedly trying to create an environment of fear among the voters.
Hiranmoy Chatterjee, the BJP candidate in Ghatal, West Midnapore, too faced mob resistance. He was prevented from visiting a few booths in Keshpur, with hundreds of Trinamool supporters using burning haystacks to block the approach road.
Hiranmoy, an actor by profession, alleged that Trinamool, Bengal police and the central forces had jointly prevented him from performing his role as a poll candidate.
In Haldia, East Midnapore, a group of alleged Trinamool workers agitated in front of Abhijit Gangopadhyay, former Calcutta High Court judge and the BJP candidate from Tamluk, shouting “thief” when he visited a booth.
Tamluk: BJP Candidate from Tamluk constituency Abhijit Gangopadhyay during his visit to different polling stations for the 6th phase of Lok Sabha elections, at Tamluk in East Midnapore district, Saturday, May 25, 2024
The mob turbulence its candidates faced prompted the BJP to accuse the Election Commission, especially Bengal chief election officer Aariz Aftab, of failing to properly use the central forces.
“The people of the state are not happy with the role of the Election Commission and its CEO, Aariz Aftab. We saw what happened in the penultimate phase of the elections in Bengal,” the state BJP’s chief spokesperson, Shamik Bhattacharya, said.
“We want the commission and its CEO to play an active role in handling such hooliganism. Otherwise, we demand the removal of the CEO.”
Trinamool accused the BJP of electoral malpractices in East Midnapore, particularly Nandigram, the Assembly constituency of Adhikari, the state leader of the Opposition.
It alleged that the BJP had destroyed a wooden bridge connecting a village to the polling booth in Sonachura, Nandigram, to prevent residents from voting.
A central force jawan tries to protect Jhargram BJP candidate Pranat Tudu (wearing a white kurta) from the mob at Garbeta in Jhargram on Saturday. Picture by Buddhadev Bera
Debanshu Bhattacharya, Trinamul candidate from Tamluk, which includes Nandigram, posted CCTV footage on social media claiming BJP workers were casting false votes in Nandigram.
The poll panel dismissed the allegation, claiming the footage merely showed personnel trying to get a VVPAT machine to function properly.
The area has been tense since Friday night, when a former Trinamool panchayat member, Sk Moibul, 42, was hacked to death — allegedly by BJP workers in Mahishadal, part of the Tamluk constituency. The BJP has blamed the murder on an alleged feud within Trinamool.
On Thursday, alleged Trinamul-backed goons had killed Rathirani Ari, 56, and injured her son and the BJP’s Scheduled Caste Morcha leader Sanjay Ari and a few others in Sonachura.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee tore into the BJP at a rally in Minakhan, Basirhat, accusing the party of preventing people from voting, especially on Adhikari’s turf.
“They (the BJP) have again started hooliganism. They killed one of my party workers in Mahishadal yesterday. I will not spare them. I will certainly take political revenge,” Mamata said.
A central force jawan, who was part of Jhargram BJP candidate Pranat Tudu's security, suffered injuries in the head when bricks were thrown at them allegedly by Trinamool supporters at Garbeta in Jhargram on Saturday. Picture by Buddhadev Bera
Adhikari claimed: “Trinamool has been washed away this election. They even failed to appoint polling agents at 200-odd booths. In Tamluk, (former) Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay will win by a huge margin.”
