Opposition parties hit the streets on Monday in protest against alleged vitiation of Sunday’s Calcutta Municipal Corporation polls by the Trinamul Congress and moved the high court seeking repoll.

The BJP, CPM and the Congress separately conducted rallies and demonstrations through the day. In separate petitions moved before a division bench headed by Chief Justice Prakash Srivastava of Calcutta High Court, the BJP and the CPM alleged rampant violence during the elections, in which several candidates and workers of the both parties had been “threatened” or “beaten up” by suspected Trinamul activists.

While the BJP pleaded for repoll in all 144 CMC wards, the CPM wanted repoll in 17 wards. The matter was fixed for hearing on Thursday.

A delegation of the Congress’s youth met governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday and demanded repoll in all the wards.

“We have fought the polls politically. We have seen the violence and now we will fight it out legally,” state BJP’s chief spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said.

In their petitions, the CPM and the BJP alleged Trinamul “goons” had attacked and injured their candidates and polling agents, CCTV cameras at booths had been tampered with and the elections rigged.

The BJP’s youth wing had planned to take out a march from the party’s state headquarters on 6 Muralidhar Sen Lane in the city. However, the police had set up barricades within 50 metres of the building. A group of BJP leaders tried to breach the barricades and move ahead, but they were immediately arrested by the police.

State BJP vice-president Pratap Banerjee and another leader Kalyan Banerjee were taken into custody, along with several other party workers. However, no key leader was seen at the event, which even sources in the BJP admitted to “being lacklustre”.

Senior BJP leaders, along with the party’s national president J.P. Nadda, had taken to Twitter to protest against the alleged manhandling by the police of Suvendu Adhikari in front of the State Election Commission’s office on Sunday. However, even Adhikari wasn’t seen at Monday’s protest at the party’s state headquarters. The BJP’s state youth wing chief Saumitra Khan was also conspicuous by his absence.

The CPM took out a rally from Rawdon Street and went to the commission’s office. The party organised a meeting and demonstration in front of the office, which went on for almost three hours. Six representatives of the Left, including CPM’s Calcutta district secretary Kallol Majumdar, sat on a dharna in front of state poll panel chief Sourav Das’s chamber, demanding a favourable decision on their appeal for repolls.

“After keeping us waiting for more than two hours, the commissioner told us he was unable to announce any re-poll. We have already moved the court and will supplement our claims with further evidence,” said Majumdar.

Trinamul accused the Opposition of desperation to make headlines, having lost the support of the people. “They are unable to stay in people’s hearts or in the political fight. That’s why they are trying to stay in the news by moving court. The people are, however, very intelligent,” said Trinamul secretary-general Partha Chatterjee.