West Bengal bypolls: Election Commission seeks action taken report from CEO on malpractice charges

Election Commission seeks report on complaints of violence and intimidation during West Bengal bypolls from CEO.

“The Election Commission of India (ECI) has sought an action taken report from the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) after receiving nearly 100 complaints from the BJP regarding bogus voting, violence and intimidation during Wednesday’s (July 10) bypolls at four Assembly constituencies in the State,” a senior official said. The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) has denied those allegations and dubbed them as “baseless”.

"There were some reports of violence, but overall, the election was peaceful yesterday. We promptly took action whenever reports of such violence and malpractices were reported to us or came to the notice of our officers," CEO Ariz Aftab said.

Sources at the CEO’s office confirmed that it would respond to the EC’s query on July 11 by listing out the actions the poll conducting body has so far taken or initiated vis-a-vis those complaints. The bypolls were held at Maniktala, Bagdah, Ranaghat Dakshin and Raiganj Assembly seats.

“Three persons were arrested in Bagdah for their alleged involvement in intimidating electors and attacking the BJP candidate,” an official said, adding that two were held in Ranaghat Dakshin Assembly constituency for the same reason.

Among the constituencies, Raiganj witnessed the highest turnout at 67.12%, followed by Ranaghat Dakshin at 65.37%, Bagdah at 65.15% and Maniktala at 51.39%.

According to Election Commission officials, the turnout may increase as queues were observed outside polling booths at 6 p.m. when polling officially ended.

Sporadic incidents of violence were reported from Bagdah, Maniktala and Ranaghat Dakshin as the BJP accused TMC activists of assaulting its booth agents and stopping its candidates from visiting some polling stations.