Violence continues to plague West Bengal during the Lok Sabha election’s third round voting. Clashes erupted at polling booths in Murshidabad’s Lochanpur and Jangipur involving three of the state’s major parties: the CPI-M, the TMC, and the BJP. Violence occurred in Bengal throughout the first two phases as well.
In Lochanpur, CPI-M Murshidabad candidate Mohammed Salim said that a ‘fake agent’ of the CPI-M had been put at a polling booth after the party’s’real’ representative was thrashed and driven away. The claimed incident took place in front of central forces at booth 36 in the Lochanpur area of Raninagar block, Domkal subdivision. Mohammed Salim said that Trinamool workers pretended to be CPI-M agents while sitting at their booth. ‘Fake’ agent allegedly forged Salim’s signature on his documents.
Salim claimed that the’real’ CPI-M agent, Mostakin Sheikh, had been hiding for almost an hour in a banana plantation in the nearby village of Paharpur, which is three km distant. The agent was then scheduled to be returned to the booth. Salim was spotted yanking the ‘false agent’ out the booth.
According to the Election Commission, two agents sought to participate in the simulated poll. However, because only one representative per candidate is permitted, the sector officer dismissed one of them. “There is no difference between goons and police,” Salim declared, accusing the TMC of harassing voters.
