In one of the worst incidents of fierce gunfights between the activists of the CPI(M) and Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), the Left Front coalition partners, at Basanti in South 24 Parganas district, four people were killed and six sustained serious injuries.

Among the dead, three belonged to the RSP and one to CPI(M). Polling in at least 15 booths at Basanti was suspended.

Stung by the killing of party supporters, RSP Secretary D Banerjee likened the incident with that of Nandigram and charged the Marxists with unleashing terror in the state. “Democracy is dead in West Bengal,” he claimed.
Asked whether the RSP will  quit the Left Front after this incident, Banerjee said: “The party central committee and state committee will meet and decide the future course of action.”

‘Preplanned’
Senior RSP leader and PWD Minister Khiti Goswami described the bloodshed as ‘preplanned’ and compared the killings with that of Nandigram where armed CPI(M) cadres recaptured the villages from the opposition.
While 2 people, believed to be CPI(M) supporters, were killed when the bombs they were making exploded at Shantipur in Nadia district, two miscreants were killed in clashes at Domjur and Panchla in Howrah district, the police said.

In another incident, a 17-year-old youth who was caught unawares during bombing at Panchla, succumbed to his injuries at the hospital.

A six-month-old kid suffocated to death after his mother, who had gone to cast her ballot, ran for her life when miscreants resorted to bombing.

The woman possibly clutched the baby so hard to her chest in sheer fright that the child was suffocated to death, a senior police official said after investigation.

Huge turnout
Voters in large numbers were seen in front of booths at Singur, where the Tata Motors’ small car plant is located.
Around 60 per cent polling was registered in five districts at around 5 pm even though there were reports of voters still standing in the queue outside many a booth in the districts, officials said.