Ahead of the fourth phase of the West Bengal elections on Monday, people from several areas of the State have threatened to boycott polls citing development and other reasons. The fourth phase covers North 24 Parganas and Howrah districts.
In Uttar Bagna village under the Gaighata seat in North 24 Parganas, about 250 voters have threatened to boycott polls alleging “gross negligence” by the State administration in providing basic civic amenities. “The main road of the village disappears during the monsoon. And the canal, next to the road, floods the road and many of us fall in the canal and get injured,” said Saraswati Halder, while giving The Hindu a tour of Uttar Bagna. “There is no question of voting unless the administration repairs the road,” Ms. Haldar said.
Earlier, more than 1,000 workers of the closed Hindustan Motors factory in the Uttarpara area of Hooghly district said they would boycott the polls alleging that the company authorities were trying to “strangle” them by disconnecting power and water supply to their quarters.
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A section of new voters in the erstwhile enclaves of Cooch Behar district have also threatened to boycott polls alleging that many of the promises made by the government were not fulfilled.
The Election Commission will deploy over 600 companies of Central forces in the fourth phase. Polling will be held for 49 seats where 1.08 crore voters will decide the fate of 345 candidates.
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