A day after the second phase of polling in the West Bengal Assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday, 2 April, filed a complaint with the Election Commission (EC) over Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's "repeated threats and criminal intimidation" to BJP workers.
In the complaint filed days ahead of the third phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections, the BJP alleged that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief gave open threats to BJP workers, resulting in "large-scale violence" over the last few days.
“TMC violated the model code of conduct, West Bengal Chief Minister has violated ECI rules, we've demanded action against her,” Union Minister Prakash Javadekar told ANI.
The BJP further said the West Bengal government had "failed miserably to ensure law and order" and demanded "strong action" against the Chief Minister.
The complaint comes at a time when the TMC has slammed the Election Commission and the central paramilitary forces for failing to control incidents of poll-related violence provoked by the BJP.
Trinamool MP Sougata Ray hit back on Friday, stating, “We condemn the violence by Central forces on the people of West Bengal...if Election Commission can't control the situation, then we will have to start a movement. The Election Commission and the Central forces couldn't control the incidents of violence.”
‘Open Threat to Workers and Leaders’: BJP Letter
BJP leaders Tathagata Roy, Pratap Banerjee, Shishir Bajoria and Sanjay Singh signed a letter stating "...Repeated grave issue of threat and criminal intimidation is being made by Mamata Banerjee. In a video from the Goghat, Hooghly, she is seen to have given open threats to the workers and leaders of the BJP.”
The letter by BJP leaders further states, “The resultant effect is evident from the large-scale violence that has been reported during the past several days.”
It further alleged that during the violence, "BJP leaders, workers and even common people were specifically targeted and brutally attacked."
The letter further quoted the CM saying, “Let the Bengal elections happen, then I will see who has the upper hand, which traitor will shelter you, will you go to Delhi, UP, Bihar or Rajasthan...”
Second Phase of Polling in WB
The second phase of polling for the West Bengal Assembly elections ended on Thursday, 1 April, with a voter turnout of 80.53 percent.
The day witnessed high drama as Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had to be rescued by the Central paramilitary forces after being confined for more than two hours to a polling booth in Nandigram amid an extremely tense face-off between BJP and TMC supporters.
Violence was reported at multiple places in Bengal, including Keshpur, Debra, and Ghatal.
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