The first phase of Lok Sabha polls in Bengal's three north seats ended on Friday on a near-peaceful note barring stray incidents of violence and malpractices.
Election Commission sources said that 77.57 per cent polling was recorded in Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar till 5pm, apparently on the higher side as people braved the heat to vote. Poll panel sources said they received 468 complaints throughout the day and resolved over 95 per cent. The Telegraph lists some of the incidents of the day.
Complaint: Violence
Where: Polling station of Jalpaiguri constituency in Siliguri
Incident: BJP MLA from Dabgram-Phulbari, Shikha Chatterjee, was stopped by police when she tried to enter the polling station at ward 33 of Siliguri. BJP supporters created chaos as the MLA tried to enter booths illegally.
Allegations: Chatterjee alleged that the police tried to stop her from visiting booths at the behest of Trinamool. Trinamool claimed authorities prevented her only for violating norms.
Officialspeak: Shama Parveen, the Jalpaiguri district election officer, said: “Nobody can enter polling stations other than candidates, voters, election agents and EC-approved media and government officials."
Where: Dinhata-1 block in Cooch Behar
Incident: Ananta Barman, the Trinamool president in Dinhata-1 block, was beaten up allegedly by BJP goons in Bhetaguri.
Allegations: North Bengal development affairs minister Udayan Guha held the BJP supporters responsible for the attack. Bijay Bose, the BJP’s district general secretary, denied it.
Officialspeak: Probe is on, said a police officer.
Where: Harirhat, Tufanganj in Cooch Behar
Incident: Trinamool alleged their camp office at Harirhat was ransacked before polling started at 6am.
Allegations: Trinamool alleged that the BJP ransacked its party office. District BJP leaders claimed a Trinamool intra-party clash.
Officialspeak: Probe is on, said cops
Where: Booths 226 and 227 at Tufanganj in Cooch Behar
Incident: Trinamool agents were debarred from entry.
Allegations: Trinamool accused the BJP of forcibly halting their agents. District BJP leaders denied the allegation.
Officialspeak: Sources in the administration said that a team was sent to both booths to ensure polling agents of all parties could enter
Where: Kharija-Baladanga in Cooch Behar
Incident: Police recovered two crude bombs at Kharija-Baladanga in Cooch Behar’s Bhetaguri on Friday morning. The bombs were defused.
Allegations: Trinamool accused the BJP of stocking up on bombs during the polls. The BJP claimed Trinamool stored the bombs.
Officialspeak: Probe is on, said cops
Complaint: EVM malpractice
Where: Booth 214 of Dhupguri, Jalpaiguri
Incident: Polling halted in booth 214 of Dhupguri after the presiding officer started polling without clearing the mock poll data.
Officialspeak: District authorities said as soon as Trinamool raised the issue, they intervened and polling resumed after two hours.
Where: Booths 250 and 304 of Dinhata, Cooch Behar
Incident: The EVM malfunctioned around 8am at booth 250 and at 7am at booth 304.
Officialspeak: In booth 250, polling was put on hold for an hour. In booth 304, it halted for 20-25 minutes. Then, polling resumed.