Violence reported from Cooch Behar as campaigning ends for Phase 1 of LS polls

Politics, National Read Latest News and Articles

Share With Your Friends

Kolkata, April 17 (IANS) Campaigning for the three Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal which will go to the polls in the first phase on April 19 concluded on Wednesday with reports of violence coming from Dinhata in Cooch Behar, one of the three constituencies where polling will be held on Friday.

In the closing hours of campaigning on Wednesday, tension flared up in a market area in Dinhata following clashes between Trinamool Congress and BJP workers.

The local Trinamool leadership accused the BJP supporters of launching an unprovoked attack on the ruling party workers which left two injured.

The Trinamool also claimed that those who launched the attack are close associates of the BJP candidate from Cooch Behar, Union Minister Nisith Pramanik.

“The attack was launched in front of the police and CAPF personnel. I request West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose to take up the matter with the Election Commission of India so that the central forces could search the residence of Nisith Pramanik where anti-social elements are hiding,” alleged Trinamool MLA from Dinhata and state minister, Udayan Guha.

However, the BJP’s district leadership rubbished the claims of the ruling party as "baseless".

“The clashes were the fallout of the enmity between two rival groups within the Trinamool," alleged district BJP General Secretary, Biraj Bose.

Earlier in the day, Pramanik had appealed to the Election Commission requesting restrictions on the movement of Udayan Guha on the polling day.

Other than Cooch Behar, the two other constituencies that will go to the polls on Friday are Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar. Incidentally, Cooch Behar is perceived as the most sensitive among the three constituencies.

A total of 112 companies of CAPF will be deployed in Cooch Behar on Friday, followed by 75 companies at Jalpaiguri and 63 companies at Alipurduar. The special police observer for West Bengal will also camp in Cooch Behar on the polling day.

--IANS

src/arm