A day after polling for the Lok Sabha election concluded, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) worker was killed in West Bengal’s Nadia district in an alleged incident of post-poll violence.
Family members of the victim said that he was targeted by the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) for his allegiance to the BJP.
The incident occurred at Kaliganj in Nadia district which falls under Krishnanagar Lok Sabha seat. Hafijur Sheikh was attacked by a group of unidentified men on Saturday night and was killed on the spot. TMC’s Mahua Moitra and BJP’s Amrita Roy are contesting the Lok Sabha elections on the seat.
The murder triggered protests and locals did not allow the police to retrieve the body for a few hours. While the family members of the deceased BJP supporters blamed TMC cadres the ruling party leaders said that the killing was due to family rivalry.
Meanwhile, a day after polling Sandeshkhali remained on the boil with large deployment of police and security forces. The region had witnessed violence during polling on Saturday. On Sunday, villagers prevented the police from arresting a local BJP worker who was involved in the violence on Saturday. The police did house to house searches to apprehend those responsible for the violence on the day of polling.
The Election Commission of India has ordered repolling on two polling booths — one in Barasat and the other in the Mathurapur Lok Sabha seat on Monday. The BJP had sought repoll on about 200 polling booths, mostly in the Diamond Harbour seat. The last phase of elections in the State had witnessed several of violence.
In another development, it has been decided by the office of the Chief Electoral Officer and State government that about 400 companies of Central forces will be stationed in the State at least till June 6. This is to contain any incidents of post-poll violence in the State. About 92 companies of Central forces will be deployed at the counting centres in the State on June 4.
Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday claimed that exit polls telecast by media houses were not in sync with ground realities because they were “manufactured at home” two months ago.
“These exit polls were manufactured at home by some people two months back for media consumption. They have no value,” the Chief Minister told a Bengali television channel. She pointed out that none of the exit polls in West Bengal in 2016, 2019, and 2021 turned out to be true.
