Kolkata: Amid reports of poll-related tension surfacing from different pockets in West Bengal, the average polling percentage for the eight Lok Sabha seats till 1 p.m. was 54.80.
Sources in the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) said that till 1 p.m. the highest polling percentage has been recorded at Bishnupur Lok Sabha at 58.64, followed by Tamluk at 57.64, Ghatal at 57.31, Jhargram of 56.95, Bankura at 54.21, Kanthi at 51.66, Medinipur at 51.57 and Purulia being lowest at 50.34.
As apprehended the two constituencies namely Ghatal in West Midnapore and Tamluk in East Midnapore continued to be the epicentre of tension. Some tensions were reported from Medinipur Lok Sabha constituency also.
At Tamluk, the BJP candidate and former Calcutta High Court judge, Abhijit Gangopadhyay, continued to face protests by aggressive crowds of Trinamool Congress supporters as he stormed from one booth to another. Every time, the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) personnel, who were part of the quick response teams, had to intervene, chase the protesting crowds and clear the path for Gangopadhyay to move ahead.
Although Gangopadhyay had maintained his calm since the morning, at one point of time during the last couple of hours he lost his temper and, said, “If such unruly protests continue wherever I go, the bones of protesters will be broken.”
The Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari said that such protest by Trinamool Congress was the reflection of fear of imminent defeat. “There are several booths where Trinamool Congress could not even arrange for polling agents. They tried to manage the situation by putting off the CCTV cameras in certain booths. But because of our constant intervention, they could not do that. Trinamool Congress is completely wiped out at Tamluk,” said Adhikari.
The BJP candidate from Ghatal, Hiran Chatterjee, who like Gangopadhyay, was storming from one booth to another constantly complained of the hooliganism unleashed by ruling party activists in different pockets. His opponent in Trinamool Congress Deepank Adhikari a.k.a. Dev complained that Chatterjee was moving from one place to another and igniting tension everywhere. “His intention is to keep the tension alive and that is what he has been doing since morning,” Dev said.
The BJP candidate from Medinipur and the fashion designer-turned-politician, Agnimitra Paul fumed after she saw a state police officer manning the election booth at a polling station under that constituency. She immediately brought the matter to the notice of the election commission.
At Purulia, one presiding officer caught the ire of the BJP candidate Juotirmoy Singh Mahato as he attended his election duty wearing a “lungi” instead of trousers. Mahato objected to that and the presiding officer immediately shifted to trousers from lungi.
–IANS
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