Cooch Behar: Tension prevailed in parts of the Cooch Behar South Assembly Constituency on Friday after BJP candidate Rathindranath Bose was shown black flags during an election campaign in the Chilkirhat Gram Panchayat area.
The incident took place at booth number 4/21 in Muranga Bari, where Bose, accompanied by party workers, had gone to canvass votes. A group of alleged Trinamool Congress supporters staged a protest, waving black flags and raising “Go Back” slogans against the BJP candidate.
In response, BJP supporters raised counter-slogans such as “Jai Shri Ram” and “Bharat Mata ki Jay,” leading to a tense situation in the area. Police and central forces, already deployed at the spot, intervened promptly and brought the situation under control.
The BJP accused the Trinamool Congress of deliberately orchestrating the protest to disrupt its campaign. “It is absolutely clear that the Trinamool Congress is behind these incidents. They know they are losing ground and are trying to prevent us from reaching voters. However, we will not be deterred,” said Rathindranath Bose.
Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress leaders defended the protest, attributing it to public anger over alleged voter list discrepancies. Chilkirhat area TMC president Bimal Kumar Roy claimed that around 200 names had been removed from the voter list at the booth. He also alleged that the sitting BJP MLA had not visited the area in the past five years, fueling public resentment.