Voting stalled in Bengal booth following violence

Voting was stalled on Monday after villagers vandalised a polling booth in West Bengal's Birbhum Lok Sabha constituency amid the ongoing fourth phase elections in the state.

The incident took place in Poduma under the the Dubrajpur Assembly segment.

The villagers clashed with the security forces following a dispute over depositing mobile phones, officials said.

To bring the situation under control, the security personnel fired in the air.

However, Trinamool's Birbhum candidate Satabdi Roy said two people were injured in the firing.

"Central forces has resorted to firing. One woman and youth were injured. Who has given them such rights? They are going from booth to booth and asking people to vote for the BJP," she said.

"They are also asking whether the BJP agent is present in the booth. Are they BJP agents who have come to the state to ensure victory of Narendra Modi? They are speaking so rudely, and threatening to fire. There is only four of them in a booth. If people get agitated, can they control?"

Besides Birbhum, voting is underway in Baharampur, Krishnanagar, Ranaghat, Burdwan East, Burdwan-Durgapur, Asansol and Bolpur constituencies.

--IANS

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