West Bengal has recorded a voter turnout of 68.25 per cent till 4:30 pm.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee (Photo: IANS)
Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee has alleged that central forces are working for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by asking voters in Maldaha Dakshin and Balurghat constituencies, where polling is underway, to cast their votes for the party.
Banerjee said the Election Commission has been informed of this.
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“I have got information that the central forces are sitting inside booths in Englishbazar in Maldaha Dakshin and asking voters to vote for the BJP. They do not have the right to do such a thing. We have informed the Election Commission about our reservations regarding this,” she said.
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“Why are they (central forces) doing it? The police cannot enter a polling booth,” she added.
She said the central forces could come to a state during the elections but they should work with the assistance of the state force and then leave.
Criticising the BJP for allegedly using the central forces, she said: “You cannot use the central forces. You did the same thing during the 2016 (assembly) elections in West Bengal. I have not forgotten it.”
West Bengal will teach the BJP an apt lesson, she claimed.
Central forces have been deployed at more than 92 per cent of the booths in the third phase of the polling in five Lok Sabha constituencies.
West Bengal has recorded a voter turnout of 68.25 per cent till 4:30 pm.
Several incidents of poll-related violence were reported from different parts of West Bengal.
As voting began for five constituencies in West Bengal in the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections, three Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers were injured after a crude bomb was hurled at them. The incident took place in Domkal municipality in Murshidabad.
In Murshidabad’s Raninagar area, unidentified men reportedly hurled a bomb near polling booth No: 27, 28.
Meanwhile, a polling agent identified as Babulal Murmu was found dead at his house in Buniadpur, Dakshin Dinajpur.
West Bengal has a history of violent clashes during elections. Keeping that in mind, polling was scheduled in all seven phases for the state.
(With PTI inputs)
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