Bharati Ghosh, Bharatiya Janata Party’s candidate from Ghatal in West Bengal, broke down on Sunday, 12 May, after she was allegedly attacked and heckled at a polling booth by women "hired by the Trinamool Congress” during the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha elections, reports Hindustan Times.
“TMC supporters pushed me to the ground. They are not allowing any polling to be held in Keshpur area. These women were hired by the TMC. I shall complain, in writing, to the EC (Election Commission of India),” she alleged.
Her car was also vandalised, allegedly by the same group. The Election Commission has sought a report from the District Magistrate on the incident and asked that a First Information Report (FIR) be filed against Ghosh for allegedly entering a booth with her mobile phone and recorded a video, according to media reports.
Ghosh, a former IPS officer, was once close to West Bengal CM and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee.
She had made headlines recently when, on Thursday, Rs 1.13 lakh were seized from her car by police, on which the Election Commission sought, and obtained, a report.
In another incident, she had allegedly threatened TMC workers, calling them ‘dogs’ for trying to prevent her supporters from voting.
Paramilitary Personnel Threatened With Violence
Later in the day, an unidentified paramilitary jawan in Ghatal filmed his colleagues as they were faced with a restless mob, which had formed in front of the polling station.
The mob allegedly consisted of TMC workers, who were threatening the paramilitary personnel with violence.
In the video, of the incident, some men are seen shouting and making threatening gestures at the jawans in the video, as the polling booth officials are advised to go inside the building for safety.
The guard filming says towards the end, “Look at how this mob is coming to assault us. This is happening at booth number 89 and 88.”
The video shot is purportedly from the Bajuara primary school, which is one of the polling centres in the Ghatal sub district.
This incident is the latest in a series of violent clashes that have marred West Bengal this election season.
BJP’s Barrackpore candidate Arjun Singh was allegedly attacked by TMC workers on Monday. Before that, violence had broken out between Congress and TMC workers in Asansol.
(With inputs from Hindustan Times.)
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