South 24 Parganas (West Bengal) [India], May 3 : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Falta Assembly constituency Debangshu Panda on Sunday alleged large-scale irregularities during polling in parts of the constituency, including manipulation at select booths and incidents of voter intimidation.
Speaking to ANI, Panda claimed that the party had raised objections over irregularities at several booths and demanded repolling in those areas, after which the Election Commission ordered fresh voting on May 21.
"We had petitioned for re-polling in the 150 booths where cellotape was put on the BJP symbol... They even rotated cameras in some of the booths... Yesterday, they made a decision on our demand and declared a repoll on 21st May... In Falta, the BJP will win by a margin of 1-1.5 lakhs votes...," Panda said.
He further alleged that several voters were prevented from exercising their franchise and that incidents of intimidation were reported after polling.
"The next day (of the voting), they (TMC people) took away all the voter cards and Aadhar cards in the night. Some people were not allowed to vote... They were not allowed to come... whoever came and voted for the BJP, in the night, the TMC goons went and broke their houses. They even threatened them... That's why the villagers came and blocked the road. Then, EC ordered the TMC to arrest them. 2-3 people were arrested. But the main culprit was not arrested. We are demanding that he be arrested as soon as possible... The police have given assurance to the Hindu villagers that it won't happen again, and everything will go back to normal... Safety and security should be given to the Hindus and the nationalist Muslims... Otherwise, these goons will torture us," he added.
Separately, BJP candidate from Noapara Assembly constituency Arjun Singh also expressed confidence in the party's performance, claiming strong public support on the ground.
"Our government is going to be formed... The people are telling us that we are going to form the government. The people are forming this government... This time, the people have come out of their homes to vote," Singh told ANI.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has ordered fresh voting across all 285 polling stations in the Falta Assembly constituency of West Bengal on May 21, even as repolling was conducted in 15 booths in Paschim Magrahat and Diamond Harbour assembly constituencies on Saturday (May 2).
According to the ECI, directives for fresh repolling have been given in Falta "on consideration of severe electoral offences and subversion of the democratic process during the polling in a large number of polling stations on April 29".
Earlier on Saturday, the BJP delegation met with West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal. TMC leader Kunal Ghosh visited the Netaji Indoor Stadium, which has strong rooms with EVMs.
BJP candidate from Maniktala Assembly constituency Tapas Roy said the delegation raised multiple issues including alleged lapses in security deployment, misuse of personnel, and counting hall arrangements.
"We came with three issues. In Bardhaman, where people were climbing the building from the outside up to the fifth floor, what were the CAPF and the district police doing? Second, in Pingla and Daspur, casual workers are being deployed for duties they shouldn't be assigned to. This must stop. Third, the Election Commission's rules and regulations regarding the seating arrangements for national and state party representatives in the counting hall must be strictly followed. The Returning Officer (RO), Assistant Returning Officer (ARO), observers, and counting officers must ensure this," he said.
"Because of incidents like what happened in Falta, Abhishek (Banerjee) won by a margin of 7 lakh 11 thousand votes in Diamond Harbour. Even today in Falta, things happen that shouldn't have. People were prevented from voting; in Hindu villages, our mothers and sisters had to come out and protest," he added.
Polling across 294 constituencies in West Bengal was held on April 23 and 29, respectively, with counting set to take place on May 4.