A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) polling agent at booth number 107 in the Kamarhati constituency died on Saturday, 17 April, as West Bengal votes in the fifth phase of the Assembly elections in the state. Polling is being held across 45 constituencies in six districts of Bengal, amid a nationwide spike in COVID-19 cases. The EC has sought a report over the same.
A 78.36% voter turnout has been recorded till 5 pm.
Districts of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, and Jalpaiguri in north Bengal and the districts of Nadia, Purba Bardhaman, and North 24 Parganas in south Bengal are polling in this phase.
While the Hills of north Bengal have been a BJP bastion even before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, with the party winning all Hills seats in that election, the other three districts have largely remained TMC bastions.
- Election Commission has decided to ban rallies, public meetings and streetplays in poll-bound West Bengal from 7 pm to 10 am.
- Silence period for the remaining phases has also been extended from 48 hours to 72 hours.
- Despite the Trinamool Congress’ explicit request to club the remaining phases of election into one, the EC conducted an all party-meeting in West Bengal and announced that the poll-schedule should be maintained.
- Remaining four phases of the poll will be held between 17 and 29 April.
- West Bengal, on Friday, reported 6,910 new COVID-19 cases, 2,818 recoveries and 26 fatalities.
Barasat SP Submits Report Over Alleged Firing By Security Forces
Barasat SP submitted a report to Special Police Observer on the alleged incident of 'blank firing by CRPF personnel' deputed at a booth in Deganga constituency. The SP said, "the allegation is found to be not based on facts".
TMC Writes to EC Over Audio Clip Released by BJP; Calls It Illegal
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) wrote to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) on Saturday, 17 April, for allegedly recording and releasing an audio clip of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee with the party’s Sitalkuchi MLA candidate Partha Pratim Roy.
In the purported clip, Banerjee can be heard talking to the TMC candidate, allegedly asking him to hold rallies with the bodies of the four people who were killed by the security forces in Cooch Behar district's Sitalkuchi constituency.
on 10 April, PTI reported.
The letter – undersigned by party leaders Yashwant Sinha, Derek O'Brien and Purnendu Basu – reads, “It is unprecedented that a Chief Minister’s phone has been intercepted at BJP’s behest and leaked one day before polls.”
“How can the BJP release a fake audio a day before the polls! Is it not an effort to unfairly influence the elections! Will the Election Commission take cognisance of it?”Yashwant Sinha told IANS