Ballot banter brews trouble- Election victim
Posted by barunroy on May 20, 2008
May 19: Nearly 25 people were injured in post-poll clashes across the region, including 15 in Cooch Behar where the CPM and the Forward Bloc went back to their turf war, shattering within hours the fragile peace that had prevailed there during the election yesterday. [Inset: A woman injured in a clash in Raiganj District Hospital. Picture by Nityananda Sarkar]
Tension had been brewing in Cooch Behar for some time but today it began with a storm in a teacup. Supporters of the two Left Front partners known to be at loggerheads with each other were discussing the poll prospects of the two parties at Kadamtala market in Dinhata over a cup of tea, when the friendly banter gave way to heated argument and then a clash. Three Bloc supporters and one from the CPM were injured.
The clash comes 24 hours after leaders of the two front allies had claimed credit for the peaceful polls. They had said constant monitoring and messages to supporters asking them to steer clear of violence — especially after incidents in south Bengal — had contributed to clash-free polls in the subdivision.
Five CPM supporters and six Congress supporters were injured at Mansai village in Tufanganj block II. They had to be admitted to Tufanganj Subdivisional Hospital. District magistrate Rajesh Kumar Sinha said polling would be held at a booth at Nisiganj, where a candidate’s name had been wrongly spelt.
At least eight persons were hospitalised in North Dinajpur’s Chopra when supporters of the CPM and Congress clashed in Tilakgachh this morning. Of the 14 booths where re-polling has been ordered in the district, as many as eight are in the Chopra block.
Fresh voting has to be held in two of them because of clashes that continued throughout yesterday as a result of which polling could not resume. In the remaining six there had been complaints of false voting and booth capturing. The re-polling was ordered based on the presiding officers’ reports. All 14 had been declared sensitive earlier.
A North Dinajpur zilla parishad candidate of the Bloc was arrested last night from Kanki. Police said “objectionable articles” had been found in the car being used by Prabhu Das, who has been accused of assaulting a Congress supporter last evening. The Bloc supporters put up a blockade on the NH31 for an hour demanding his release.
Re-polling has been ordered in 12 booths in Malda, mainly in the Chanchol subdivision following allegations of rigging and booth capturing. District magistrate Chittaranjan Das said the CPM had demanded re-poll in 20 booths in Chanchol, whereas the Congress had wanted it in 10 booths. [The Telegraph]
