No re-polling in Kolkata civic polls: Bengal EC

“No electoral malpractices in reports by poll officials”

Congress supporters during a rally in Kolkata on Tuesday to protest against violence by the Trinamool Congress during the civic polls.- Photo: Sushanta Patranabish

Even as the Opposition parties demanded re-polling in more than one-third of the booths in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) elections due to alleged rigging and terror tactics by the ruling Trinamool Congress, the West Bengal State Election Commission (WBSEC) said here on Tuesday that there would be no re-polling.

State Election Commissioner S. R. Upadhyay told journalists that there would not be any re-polling as in the reports submitted by the returning officers there was no mention of any electoral malpractices. The decision comes in the backdrop of large scale violence reported in the city during the civic polls on April 18.

Among the 4,704 booths in the KMC polls, the Left Front had demanded re-polling in more than 1,000 booths and the Bharatiya Janata Party had demanded that the “entire voting process be disqualified” and held afresh with deployment of Central forces. “We are reiterating our demand of the KMC polls being held afresh,” BJP general secretary Biswapriya Roychowdhury told

The Hindu .

Questioning the six per cent rise in the voter turn out from 62 per cent on the polling date to 68 per cent in the final report, he alleged that large scale proxy voting was the reason behind this. The CPI (M) and the BJP had accused Mr. Upadhyay of working under pressure of the State Government.

TMC worker assaulted

A TMC worker was allegedly assaulted by the BJP cadres in Parui in Birbhum district. Local TMC leadership accused the BJP of severely beating Seikh Jigiria for taking people to a rally of State’s Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim in Bolepur held on Monday. Mr. Jigiria is a resident of the Jadavpur village in Parui. The BJP leadership denied any involvement of party workers in the incident.

Meanwhile, the BJP had also claimed that the TMC had assaulted its town vice-president in Baruipur in South 24 Parganas Tapan Ghosh leading to “serous injuries”. He had been admitted to a local hospital.

Meanwhile, the TMC has accused Congress MP Abu Hasem Khan Chowdhury of violating model code of conduct as he allegedly gave money to an old woman while campaigning. The incident took place in the Kothabari area of English Bazar in Malda district. Mr. Chowdhury, however, denied the allegation.