The first half of the polling in three civic bodies in Bidhannagar, Asansol and Howrah in West Bengal has been marred with sporadic incidents of booth capturing and alleged assault of opposition party workers by the ruling Trinamool Congress on Saturday.
In the Duttabad area of the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation (BMC) scores of outsiders reportedly entered dozens of polling booths and threatened voters to stay away from the booths. There were also instances of bombs being hurled in the area. Polling agents of opposition parties were also assaulted allegedly by Trinamool cadres.
The poling agent of Left Front’s mayoral candidate and former State Finance Minister Ashim Dasgupta was prevented from entering the booths by Trinamool cadres. As for the Asansol Municipal Corporation (AMC) in Bardhaman district there are reports of booth capturing and electoral malpractice by the Trinamool.
In erstwhile Bali Municipality area, recently merged with the Howrah Municipality, there were also some reports of violence. Whereas Asansol witnessed 47 per cent of polling, in Bidhannagar 38 per cent votes were polled till 1 p.m. In Howrah 43.7 per cent votes were polled till 1 p.m.
