BJP fears 'massacre' after polls in West Bengal

The BJP has expressed apprehensions that there could be a "massacre" in West Bengal after polling for the last phase ends on Sunday evening and demanded deployment of Central Forces till the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) comes to an end.

"We fear whether there would be a 'narsanhaar' (massacre) by the TMC (Trinammol Congress) after polling ends (Hamein dar hai ki polling khatm hote hi TMC ka udhar narsanhaar shuru hoga)," Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters here at BJP headquarters.

She demanded that Central Armed Forces should stay in West Bengal till the MCC comes to end, and urged the Paramilitary Forces to remain alert till polling ends in its nine constituencies.

Her remarks came while polling was underway in the state amid reports of sporadic violence, EVM malfunctioning and allegations of rigging from both the Trinamool and Congress.

Sitharaman accused the TMC of threatening voters and spreading violence during the polls.

"Violence is taking place in six constituencies of the state and the incidents have been widely reported in the media. The Election Commission (EC) must take cognisance," she said.

BJP's Rajya Sabha MP Swapan Dasgupta also slammed the TMC for violence and urged the EC to address the issues on an urgent basis.

"One of the most important demand that we make is following the end of polling. The Central Forces in West Bengal should remain there on alert to prevent organised recrimination of voters who went against the wishes of the Trinamool," he said.

Over 32 per cent electorate cast their votes till 11 a.m. across nine parliamentary constituencies in West Bengal, where the seventh and final phase of polling is underway.

Anupam Hazra, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Jadavpur, and a party leader accompanying him, were attacked and the latter's car damaged after the two visited a booth on receiving reports of rigging there.

Alleging that he was pushed and shoved, Hazra accused the TMC of rigging all 52 polling booths under the Kolkata Municipal Corporation ward number 109 in Jadavpur.

To ensure peaceful polling, 710 companies of Central Paramilitary Forces, 461 Quick Response Teams (QRT) and state police personnel have been deployed in the nine constituencies spread over three districts -- Kolkata, 24 Parganas North and 24 Parganas South.

The high-stake constituencies in the final phase of Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal, include those of political heavyweights like Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew and Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee (Diamond Harbour), Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's grand nephew Chandra Kumar Bose (Kolkata South), BJP National Secretary Rahul Sinha (Kolkata North), former Kolkata mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya (Jadavpur), veteran Trinamool Congress MPs Sougata Roy (Dum Dum) and Sudip Bandyopadhyay (Kolkata North).

--IANS

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