Repoll after ballot grab during counting

Jalpaiguri: A repoll has been ordered in two booths of Jalpaiguri's Rajganj on Sunday after suspected Trinamul activists snatched ballot papers from the counting centre.

Officials said it was rare that a repoll had been ordered because of ballots taken away or damaged during counting .

The state election commission ordered the repoll on Friday after "information" that 450-odd ballot papers were taken away from the counting centre at Mahendranath High School on Thursday. Later, some of the papers found near a bus stand.

The papers related to votes cast on May 14 at booth numbers 189/1 and 189/2. "The commission has decided that on Sunday (May 20), re-poll would be held in two booths, followed by counting on May 21," said a Jalpaiguri official.

A BJP leader said the party had filed a complaint with the poll panel saying the Trinamul group had grabbed the ballots and demanding a repoll.