In the seventh and final phase of the 18th Lok Sabha elections, Eight states and union territories are in polls today. The final phase of the poll will cover the following states & seats – Bihar (8), Jharkhand (3), Himachal Pradesh (4), Odisha (6), Punjab (13), UP (13), West Bengal (9), and Chandigarh (1).
During polls today, West Bengal witnessed incidents of violence and clashes. Tensions between the party workers of ISF and CPI(M) created chaos in the Satuliya area in Bhangar, within the Jadavpur constituency. South 24 Paraganas district, hurled by the angry mobs seized the reserved electronic voting machine and threw it into the nearby pond.
Alleged clashes between TMC and the ISF workers took Bhangar, with a storm. Crude bombs too were recovered from the area. Protests broke out when the police reached the spot with multiple allegations being thrown in the air.
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Polling on Nine Lok Sabha Seats of West Bengal
The Nine Lok Sabha seats of West Bengal include Dum Dum, Barasat, Basir hat, Jayanagar, Mathurapur, Diamond Harbour, Jadavpur, Kolkata Dakshin and Kolkata Uttar.
The polling began at 7 a.m. with strict security measures and will continue till 6 pm. 1.63 crore voters, including 83.19 lakh men, 80.20 lakh women, and 538 persons of the third gender, are eligible to exercise their franchise at 17,470 polling stations.
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Bombs hurled, Protests emerged, Stone pelting incidents recorded
BJP candidate Tapas Roy witnessed other protests while visiting some of the booths. He was welcomed with the “go back’ slogans, which created further animosity between both the party workers. The alleged clashes between the TMC and ISF workers in the Bhangar area led to ten people being injured and six arrested. Police officials had to resort to lathi charges, to tame the situation and calm the chaos.
An EVM and voter-verifiable paper audit trail were reportedly thrown into the water at booths 40 and 41 in Kutali in South 24 Paragana district. “The polling process has not been vitiated. Those that were kept in reserve were thrown in water. We have sought a report from the presiding officer,” said a senior EC official.
Reaction from BJP
Several videos of the protest by the Sandeshkhali women were circulated on social media.“The brave women of #Sandeshkhali have chased away corrupt and compromised West Bengal Police. Our women leaders are speaking to them and each one of them will vote against the tyranny of Mamata Banerjee. This is a fight like none other and will be taken to the logical conclusion,” BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya wrote in a post on X.
About Author
This Article has been written by Ms Anuja Choudhary, a public policy enthusiast and Masters in Philosophy from LSR, DU. With a keen eye for authenticity, she is currently honing her craft as a writer to pen down the voices with utmost sincerity and integrity.
