We will win Nandigram & Bengal by a thumping majority, says Mamata
Nandigram: Amid reports of sporadic violence and booth jamming in Nandigram, Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee after visiting several booths stated that her party would get a landslide victory both in Nandigram and in Bengal.
Banerjee, on Thursday, visited several booths across the high-profile Nandigram constituency, where she is pitted against her protégé-turned-adversary Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP, as sporadic incidents of violence and allegations of booth jamming marred the voting process.
Showing the victory sign after coming out of a polling booth at Boyal in Nandigram where she stayed for almost one-and-a-half-hours protesting against massive rigging of votes and to ensure proper arrangements were in place to help people exercise their franchise, she said that her party would get 90 per cent of the votes.
The TMC boss also took a dig at the Election Commission for "remaining silent", following "instructions from Union Home minister Amit Shah", despite receiving complaints about plans hatched by the BJP to loot votes.
Banerjee expressed her wrath over the functioning of the Central forces as there was tension outside the booth at Boyal with BJP and TMC workers almost getting involved in a brawl.
"See, I am not at all worried about the results of polls in Nandigram. But I am worried about democracy. I will win in Nandigram with the support of people as they have voted in my favour. But there was cheating in Boyal. No steps were taken despite me informing them that they were creating trouble there. They had attacked our worker Rabin Manna who is fighting for his life at SSKM Hospital. Yesterday (Wednesday), two of our workers were killed at Keshpur and Khanakul," she said sitting on her wheelchair after coming out of Boyal Primary School where she alleged that 80 per cent of votes were polled by 1.30 pm as an outcome of rigging carried out by the BJP.
Referring to the tension "purposely created" at booth number seven at Boyal, she said: "The agents of my party were badly manhandled. I will not hold personnel of the Central forces responsible for all this. I will only request the Home minister as he himself instructed the CRPF and other jawans to help BJP and their goons, to not indulge in such acts."
Reiterating her allegation of the presence of "outsiders" in Nandigram, she said: "There were outsiders at Boyal as they were speaking in Hindi.
But the EC is silent despite repeated complaints and extending 'one-sided' support to the BJP and it is under their instigation that the saffron party is looting the votes and beating up people. They had terrorised our leaders, including Abu Taher and Abdus Samad. I have seen the functioning of the EC at the time of T N Seshan. But I have never seen such a poor act of the EC in my life."
"Democracy is the festival of people. Then, why will the EC not act impartially? My humble request to EC officials is to take care of the situation and not act in a similar manner in the next phase of polls. Whatever you all try, BJP will not win in this election. In Nandigram, 90 per cent people have cast votes in our favour as well as in 59 other seats that went to polls."
