JOIN USThe high-stakes battle for the prestigious Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) on Saturday was marked by sporadic incidents of violence, with Opposition parties accusing the ruling Trinamool Congress of spreading terror, intimidating voters and booth-jamming.
Results will be declared on April 28 are being touted by many as the semi-final before the state Assembly elections in 2016, when the BJP hopes to claim a larger stake in West Bengal.
The turnout in Kolkata, which has always remained higher than in other metros in almost every election, seemed to have taken a dip towards the end of day'sthis time.
It was 18 per cent within the first two hours and stood at above 35 per cent around 1 pm. By later afternoon, experts were predicting that turnout would be at least 10 per cent lower than in the last few elections. It stood at 62 per cent till the end of day’s polling at 7 pm.
While the KMC electoral rolls had names of more than 37 lakh voters, in several parts of the city they claimed they were unable to exercise their franchise owing to false voting. Most of these cases were reported from the southern fringes of the city.
Stray incidents of violence since late morning marked the day as polling started at 7 am.
Despite a flashy poll campaign, although devoid of star campaigners, the BJP presence on polling day seemed a bit low-key. The party also accused the Trinamool of forcing voters to stay indoors by intimidating them with threats of violence since Friday night.
BJP state president Rahul Sinha wrote to state election commissioner R S Upadhyay urging that a re-poll be declared in all 144 wards of the KMC. CPM state secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra also made similar demands, and called Saturday’s elections “the bloodiest in KMC's history”.
“The Trinamool is undemocratic, and hence is resorting to such unfair tactics,” he said.
Senior Trinamool leaders, however, refuted all the allegations and claimed that polling was peaceful.
“Since they have realised there's no chance for them to win seats, they are bawling like babies. Such demands clearly prove their lack of confidence,” senior Trinamool leader and state Municipal Affairs Minister Firhad Hakim told reporters.
The Trinamool had won a huge majority in the 2010 KMC polls, with the Left parties a distant second. While the trend is likely to continue, the fight this time seems three-cornered, with the BJP trying to make its presence felt.