Bengal panchayat polls: Repolling in 696 booths; 69.85% voter turnout till 5 pm

Around 696 booths in 19 districts of West Bengal where polling for Panchayat elections was earlier declared void, recorded a voter turnout of 69.85 per cent till 5 pm during repolling on Monday (July 10), officials said.

The State Election Commission (SEC) ordered repolling in 696 booths after widespread violence and vote tampering was reported during voting for the Panchayat polls on Saturday (July 8). The violence left at least 15 people dead in the state.

SEC officials said that no major incident of violence or vote tampering was reported during the repolling on Monday.

Also read: Bengal Panchayat poll violence: Repolling on July 10 in 696 booths

The re-polling started at 7 am amid tight security with four central forces personnel deployed in each booth, besides state police. Voting, however, saw a delayed start in a few booths as ballot boxes did not reach on time, officials said. These booths will be given extra time to complete the polling, they said.

“No major untoward incidents were reported from the districts where repolling is underway. A couple of stray incidents happened and those were managed by the police,” an SEC official said.

However, one person died due to cardiac arrest while standing in the queue to vote in Tehatta sub-division of Nadia district, police said.

Counting of votes, including in booths where repolling was conducted, will be held on July 11.

Voters stage protests

In Malda, locals blocked a booth in Dogachi in Raniganj panchayat in Gazole block, preventing the repoll. Polling could not be held on Saturday, too, as the locals boycotted the vote demanding the repair of a road.

A road was blocked at Tehatta in Nadia on Monday morning, but it was later cleared by the police. Voters also demonstrated outside a booth at Mayna in Purba Medinipur district, he said.

Also read: Bengal polls violence: Governor flies to Delhi to submit report to Amit Shah

By 5 pm on Monday, a large number of people were still inside the polling booths, waiting for their turn. Sources said only those who entered the booths before 5 pm would be allowed to cast their vote by presiding officers.

In the booths where the poll process started late due to logistical reasons, voting will also end late.

TMC-BJP engage in blame game

Commenting on the repolling, Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said the BJP submitted a list of 6,000 booths to the SEC, demanding re-election.

“Actually, false voting took place in 18,000 booths at the behest of the TMC. We are collecting more evidence. Our list was apparently overlooked by State Election Commissioner Rajiva Sinha, but we are not surprised. The list of booths suddenly announced by the SEC for repoll was submitted by the TMC,” he claimed.

“Detailed evidence backed up with ample video footage will be submitted to the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday, the day of the counting of votes,” he added.

Also read: Bengal rural polls: TMC, Oppn, Centre, BSF play blame game as toll rises to 20

TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh alleged that the violence on the day of the election was perpetrated by opposition parties.

“It is TMC that has suffered the most due to this opposition-sponsored violence. Central forces did not arrive despite requisition by the SEC. Today’s poll has been peaceful and it proves that SEC has taken steps to control the situation,” he said.

Senior TMC leader and state minister Shashi Panja alleged that the BJP, Congress and ISF had been continuously instigating their workers in the run-up to the polls.

“Over 60 per cent of people killed in violence belong to the TMC,” she claimed.

Meanwhile, BJP leader Rahul Sinha demanded that the elections should be held again under the watchful eyes of courts.

The BJP, in a release, said it has nominated a four-member fact-finding committee to visit the violence-affected areas in West Bengal. The panel members include MP and former Union minister Ravishankar Prasad, and MP Dr Satyapal Singh.

Also read: Congress leader Aadhir seeks compensation for kin of dead in Bengal polls

Among the districts where repolling was being held, violence-hit Murshidabad has the highest number of booths at 175, followed by Malda with 109, officials said.

Re-polling was also being held at 89 booths in Nadia, followed by Cooch Behar (53), North 24 Parganas (46), Uttar Dinajpur (42), South 24 Parganas (36), Purba Medinipur (31) and Hooghly (29), they said.

No re-polling was ordered in Darjeeling, Jhargram and Kalimpong districts, they said.

The decision for repolling was announced after reviewing reports of violence and tampering with ballot boxes and ballot papers, they added.

Polling was held on Saturday in over 61,000 booths for the three-tier panchayat elections, with a voter turnout of 80.71 per cent. In several places, ballot boxes were looted, set on fire and thrown in ponds, leading to violence.

Also read: Bengal’s panchayat polls marred by violence, 12 dead; allegations of strong-arm tactics

A total 5.67 crore people living in the state’s rural areas were eligible to decide the fate of 2.06 lakh candidates in 73,887 seats of the panchayat system.

(With inputs from agencies)