Kolkata: West Bengal witnessed sporadic incidents of violence during elections to 107 municipalities across the state on Sunday. A voter turnout of around 49.91 per cent was recorded till 1 pm, according to election officials.
Elections were scheduled to be held in 108 municipalities, but the ruling Trinamool Congress had walked away with one civic body uncontested in Dinhata in Coochbehar district a few days ago, said a State Election Commission official. The official said the voting started at 7 am and continued till 5 pm.
Till 1 pm, 49.91 per cent of 95.6 lakh voters exercised their right in over 2,000 wards amid beefed-up security and strict adherence to Covid-19 guidelines.
“Sporadic incidents of violence were reported. We noted disturbances in a few areas and took action. The overall situation, however, was peaceful,” the senior SEC official was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
BJP accuses TMC of burning their tent near booth no 163 of ward no.8, Midnapore Municipality last night. Voting for #WestBengal Civic Polls continues.
“TMC burnt our booth last night. Action should be taken. We informed Police but they’re yet to come,” a worker says. pic.twitter.com/RgxkLUfsZl
— ANI (@ANI) February 27, 2022
In Murshidabad district, Congress leader in Lok Sabha, Adhir Chowdhury, was seen moving from one place to other following reports of Congress and the Left Front candidates being beaten up surfaced in the local media.
However, TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh accused BJP leader Arjun Singh and Adhir Choudhury of influencing the voters during the election.
“Out of 11,280 booths spread across 108 municipalities in the state, there are allegations of irregularities from only 0.2% of booths which also needs to be verified,” Ghosh was quoted as saying by the agency.
The ruling TMC is fighting the polls against BJP, CPI(M)-led Left Front and Congress. Several TMC leaders are fighting the elections as Independents after failing to secure party tickets.
The counting of votes will be done on March 2.
