Malda: Polls passed off by and large peacefully in South Malda Lok Sabha constituency except for some stray incidents. Till 5 pm, 73.68 per cent votes had been cast.
ASI Naveen Moktan, a police officer, aged 43 years from Ward 22 of Darjeeling died from illness on Monday morning in Baishnabnagar. He was first taken to Bedrabad Hospital and later to Malda Medical College and Hospital but was declared brought dead. The police have started an investigation into the matter.
An exchange of words ensued between Sreerupa Mitra Choudhury, BJP candidate and some TMC workers led by councillor Kakoli Choudhury. Kakoli Choudhury said: “We want free and fair elections but the BJP candidate is spending a lot of time in the booth and trying to jeopardise the secrecy of votes.”
Later, Choudhury faced ‘go back’ slogans from TMC supporters near Dhiren Saha High School booth. At least 10 voters of Gayeshpur Primary School, booth 87 were shown deceased in the electoral roll. The presiding officer clearly stated that they cannot vote as they have been declared dead. Anima Poddar, one of these voters, said: “I have been in the queue but when my turn arrived, officials didn’t allow me to vote as I have been declared dead in the rolls.” A clash took place between TMC and Congress supporters at Chaspara in Sujapur when TMC supporters were allegedly attacked by Congress workers. One person was hospitalised and three sustained minor injuries.
Shahnawaz Ali Raihan, Trinamool candidate, said: “In booth 115, Gayeshbari, 2 of our polling agents were physically assaulted in presence of Central Forces. BJP candidate is trying to take help from Central Forces. Both Congress and BJP are very weak opponents here. TMC is going to win the seat with a huge margin.”
Isha Khan Chowdhury, Congress candidate, said: “From early morning, the voting trends are in favour of Congress and we can retain the seat without any problem.”
Biswapriya Roychoudhury, member of state executive council of BJP, said: “The BJP candidate was close to a win the last time and now she will win with a margin none can imagine.” South Malda comprises 7 Assembly segments with a total of 17,79,826 voters, casting votes in 1759 polling stations, including 27 fully managed by females and 4 model polling stations. Around 950 polling stations have been earmarked as sensitive. About 73 companies of Central Forces had been deployed. A total of 5,768 polling officials were deployed to ensure smooth elections.