In West Bengal, Over 77% of Franchisees Exercise Despite Sporadic Violence

Kolkata: As the three districts of North Bengal, Cooch Behar, Alipurduar, and Jalpaiguri, went to polls on Friday, there were isolated reports of violence during the first round of the Lok Sabha election in West Bengal. Violence incidents in Cooch Behar erupted shortly after the polls opened at seven in the morning. During the stone-throwing, a voter in the district’s Sitalkuchi suffered major eye damage. He said that he was being targeted by Trinamool Congress members. Males from the TMC and BJP battled in Sitai, Cooch Behar.

Anant Barman, the leader of the Bethguri TMC block, was hospitalized after an alleged beating by BJP personnel. After miscreants in Mathabhanga shut poll workers in a room, TMC supporters were upset and said the BJP had reportedly received assistance from central authorities in intimidating voters. Nine bombs were found by the police 200 meters from a voting place in Falimari. TMC minister Udayan Guha was stopped in Dinhata by protesting ladies after the reported arrest of a BJP panchayat member.

While Udayan blamed the BJP for the disturbance, Nisith Pramanik, a party MP and Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, said that the public will respond appropriately to the TMC. “The people’s voice is paramount in a democracy. They are commemorating Democracy Day and will respond to the TMC appropriately, as they are aware of the horrors committed by the party in power, according to Pramanik. Police attempted to stop and arrest BJP MLA Sikha Chatterjee near Dabgram-Fulbari in Jalpaiguri, claiming she was courting voters.

Siliguri’s commotion

In Siliguri, BJP MLA Sikha Chatterjee accused TMC supporters of casting phony ballots, causing a ruckus. The gates were closed as a result of a phony voter with two tattooed fingers running outside the booth amid cries of “Jai Shri Ram” and “Joy Bangla.” Additionally, a phony poll worker was discovered and taken out of a Siliguri booth. There are BJP MPs in three of the forty-two seats that had elections. Voter participation was 77.73 percent in Cooch Behar, 75.54 percent in Jalpaiguri, and 79.33 percent in Alipurduar till 5 p.m. Shubhomoy Moitra, a poll analyst, claims that the voter participation is typical based on poll percentages from prior elections.