Bengal polls: CM Mamata calls CRPF force ‘Gunda’, then rectifies

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleged assault by Central Reserve Police Force and accused Bharatiya Janata Party of poll rigging as tensions, violence claims, and heavy security marked second-phase voting across 142 constituencies in Kolkata and districts

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday called the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) “Gunda”, before rectifying the same, and accused the force of “assaulting” workers and leaders of the Trinamool Congress. She visited polling booths in South Kolkata as the voting for the second phase of the Assembly elections is underway across 142 seats in the state.

To ensure security, CCTV cameras have been installed, and CAPF personnel are deployed. The polling officers have made strict arrangements for the polling.

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Speaking to the reporters, CM Mamata alleged that a Trinamool Congress worker was “beaten up” on Tuesday night. She claimed that the BJP wants to “forcefully rig” the Assembly elections in the state, stating that the election observers, “brought from outside”, are going to police stations and “creating pressure”. “See how our worker was beaten up at night… Look at this atrocity… What is this hooliganism? This is not how voting is conducted; it is conducted peacefully. Voting is a festival of democracy. But they (the BJP) have completely ruined it. The intention is very clear that the BJP wants to forcefully rig the election. Our workers and people are ready to die, but they will not leave the place,” the Chief Minister told the reporters.

“We want, our party wants, I want, voting to happen peacefully. But how many observers have been brought from different places? Many police officers have also been brought, who do not understand Bengal. Observers are going to police stations and creating pressure. Some observers are targeting TMC agents… The atrocities that were committed last night, I was awake the entire night,” she said.

CM Mamata then called the CRPF forces “Gunda (hooligans)” and claimed that the officials “assaulted” the family members of her party councillor. “At around 2 a.m., a team of CRPF ‘Gunda’, sorry, not ‘Gunda’, CRPF force went to my Ward 70 councillor’s home without the state police and attacked his residence. The councillor’s wife and their children were alone at the time. When she said he wasn’t home, the CRPF assaulted them, snatched their phone, and warned that he should not do any party work. I can show you the proof,” she alleged.

Polling began at 7 a.m. for 142 constituencies across six districts, including its capital, Kolkata, in the second phase of the two-phase Assembly polls. The polling process started on Wednesday with mild tension in certain pockets from the very first hour.

In the Bhabanipur Assembly constituency in South Kolkata, which is witnessing a battle between Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, the Chief Minister’s brother, Kartik Banerjee, was cautioned by central forces for assembling near a police station with companions in excess of the permitted number.

In the Bhawanipur-adjacent Rashbehari constituency, also in South Kolkata, mild tension broke out after allegations that ruling Trinamool Congress activists were preventing Congress booth agents from entering a particular polling booth. Congress alleged ‘hooliganism’ by the ruling party activists in the Rashbehari Assembly constituency at the beginning of the polling process.

Meanwhile, tension prevailed at Singur in Hooghly district since Tuesday night, with the outgoing Trinamool Congress legislator, Bencharam Manna, staging a protest demonstration in front of the local police station, alleging excesses by the security forces. The polling process at a booth in Santipur Assembly constituency in Nadia district started late due to an EVM malfunction. Mock polling, mandatory before the actual polling process, was conducted at all polling booths where the elections are being conducted.

Apart from the state capital Kolkata, the six districts where polling is being held in the second phase on Wednesday are North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Hooghly, Howrah, Nadia and East Burdwan. The second phase of the Assembly polls is being conducted under unprecedented security cover, with the deployment of 2,407 companies of central forces, including Central Armed Police Forces, the India Reserve Battalion, and personnel from armed police wings of other states, in addition to personnel from West Bengal Police and Kolkata Police. Webcasting is being conducted in all polling stations.