Repolls largely peaceful in North Bengal dists

Siliguri: Repolls passed off by and large peacefully in the districts of North Bengal on Monday. There were no reports of any untoward incident.

Cooch Behar district which was the epicentre of violence with 3 dead on the day of the polls on Saturday, voted peacefully on Monday. Repolls were held in 53 booths. Central forces and state police kept strict vigil. Till 5 pm, 62.32 per cent of repolling had taken place in the district. “BJP has been creating terror since the election was announced. The large turnout at repolls is a clear indicator that people have come out to vote for the TMC,” stated Abhijeet De Bhowmik, TMC district president. Sukumar Rai, BJP district President countered that BJP would win in all booths where repolls are being held.

Except for some stray incidents, the repoll went on peacefully in 109 booths of Malda. On Sunday night Sabina Yeasmin, minister of state for Irrigation, went to visit Mothabari’s strong room after receiving complaints of tampering with CCTV camera connections. Hasimuddin Shaikh, Zilla Parishad candidate, was stopped from entering the strong room by the central forces and the atmosphere heated up with the arrival of Yeasmin there. Supporters of Congress and CPI(M) allegedly vandalised the car of the TMC candidate.

“I went to take stock of the situation after receiving a complaint from our ZP candidate about CCTV but the opposition fomented unrest over the issue. Miscreants under Subhendu Adhikari in 2018 created some malpractice there who are now in the opposition. Our leader, Abhishek Banerjee, directed us to ensure free and fair elections. So I went there to stop those miscreants,” Yeasmin said. Isha Khan Chowdhury, former MLA of Sujapur and Congress leader alleged that Yeasmin went there to manipulate ballot boxes but was stopped by Congress supporters.

Repolling passed off peacefully in North Dinajpur district. Repolling was held in 42 booths of nine blocks. Reportedly in the 42 booths, voters could not cast votes on Saturday owing to clashes between parties. However, there was tension when a clash took place between TMC and Independent activists at Ruiha gaon in Islampur on Monday morning. They attacked each other, pelted stones and exploded bombs. Some houses in the village were damaged too. Five persons received serious injuries and are admitted to Islampur sub-divisional hospital. After being informed, police along with central forces reached the spot and had to resort to lathi-charge to disperse the mob.

In South Dinajpur, 18 centres went to repolls. There were no reports of any untoward incident. However, BJP state President Sukanta Majumdar faced a gherao.

TMC supporters chanted “Go Back” slogans in Raghavpur in Gangarampur.

“He has been trying to create trouble and unrest ever since the election was declared. He tried the same on repoll day,” stated Mrinal Sarkar, TMC District President. Majumdar claimed that the TMC has been rigging elections hence he has been trying to stop this. Till 5 pm, South Dianjpur registered 66.25 per cent re-polls.

There were repolls in 14 booths in Jalpaiguri and 1 in Alipurduar, with no reports of any untoward incident. However, Bhavna Soren, the BJP candidate for 11/142 booth of Alipurduar was detained throughout the repolling at the police station. “Bhavna Soren was directly involved in torching the ballot box of the Zilla Parishad seat in Bhatpara tea garden on Saturday. We have substantial evidence. So she underwent preventive detention on Monday and was released after the completion of repolls,” stated Y Raghuvamshi, Superintendent of

Police, Alipurduar.