Kolkata: Violence erupted during the fourth phase of voting in West Bengal's Lok Sabha elections, with clashes reported between workers of the BJP and the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) in various parts of the state.
In Birbhum, BJP workers claimed that their stall outside a polling station was vandalized by TMC workers.
TMC leader Ram Prasad Haldar stated, "Since 6 am these (BJP) people have been coming with the central forces and trying to influence the voters. We protested against it, and voters also protested. They are trying to bring polling agents from outside. Central forces are threatening the people and influencing them."
BJP MLA Laxman Ghorui alleged that their polling agents were forcefully removed from a polling booth in Durgapur. Ghorui stated, "Our polling agents were repeatedly thrown out of the polling booth located at TN School in Durgapur. Alpana Mukherjee from booth number 22, Somnath Mandal from booth number 83, and Rahul Sahni from booth number 82 were repeatedly thrown out of the polling booth by TMC goons."
He further accused the presiding officer of misconduct and claimed that intervention was necessary from higher authorities and the media to rectify the situation.
BJP candidate Dilip Ghosh also accused TMC workers of preventing polling agents from entering booths. Ghosh said, "It is their (TMC) habit to threaten people who want to cast their votes. The goons of TMC are not letting the polling agents enter the booths, including the presiding officer."
The voting for the fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections began on Monday across nine states and one Union Territory. West Bengal, with eight seats in contention, witnessed incidents of violence during the polling.