West Bengal Assembly Repoll: High Voter Turnout Amid Controversy

Voter Engagement in West Bengal's Repoll

Kolkata: By 3 PM on Saturday, the repoll in 15 booths across two assembly constituencies in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal saw a turnout exceeding 72 percent, according to official reports.

Voting proceeded largely without incident at 11 polling stations in the Magrahat Paschim assembly constituency and four in Diamond Harbour, where the Election Commission mandated a repoll due to allegations of electoral misconduct.

However, an incident at booth number 179 in Chanda Primary School, Diamond Harbour, raised concerns when the Trinamool Congress (TMC) accused central forces of harassing a specially abled voter and his mother. This allegation led to protests from party supporters and local residents.

The TMC claimed that the mother, who was assisting her son, and the voter were held by central forces for an extended period over supposed violations of election rules.

TMC leaders Manmohini Biswas and Pratik Ur Rahman arrived at the scene to lead the protests, with locals describing the actions as unnecessary harassment. An official from the Election Commission stated that the situation was managed by their personnel on-site.

Overall, the polling remained peaceful across the 15 booths, the official confirmed.

Voting commenced at 7 AM and is set to continue until 6 PM, with a reported turnout of 72.43 percent by 3 PM.

Magrahat Paschim recorded a voter turnout of 72.50 percent, while Diamond Harbour saw 72.36 percent, as per the poll official.

These two constituencies participated in the second phase of the state elections held on April 29.

The decision for a repoll was made following reports from returning officers and observers, citing 'material circumstances', according to the Election Commission.

In Magrahat Paschim, TMC's Md Samim Ahamed Molla is competing against BJP's Goursundar Ghosh, along with Congress's Abdul Majid Halder and ISF's Abdul Aziz Al Hassan.

In Diamond Harbour, TMC candidate Panna Lal Halder faces off against BJP's Dipak Kumar Halder, with Goutam Bhattacharya from Congress and CPI(M)'s Samar Naiya also in the race.

The BJP has raised concerns about widespread electoral irregularities at various polling stations within these assembly seats, which fall under the Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha constituency, represented by TMC's national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.

To investigate these claims, the Election Commission appointed special observer Subrata Gupta to verify the allegations on the ground.

The poll panel is also expected to make a decision regarding repolling in the Falta assembly constituency on Saturday.

The West Bengal assembly elections were conducted in two phases on April 23 and April 29, under stringent security measures.