KOLKATA, April 23: Sporadic incidents of violence and assaults on candidates marred polling in parts of West Bengal on Thursday as the first phase of the Assembly elections progressed across 152 constituencies, prompting the Election Commission to seek reports from trouble-hit pockets.
The state recorded a brisk voter turnout of over 41 per cent till 11 am on Thursday, reflecting a strong early participation. In Murshidabad’s Naoda, clashes broke out between supporters of the Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) and the ruling TMC, prompting police and central forces to resort to baton charge to disperse mobs, officials said. The violence in Shibnagar village followed a tense morning after AJUP founder Humayun Kabir visited a polling booth, triggering protests by TMC supporters who raised slogans and surrounded his vehicle, branding him a “BJP agent”. As the situation escalated, rival groups allegedly hurled stones and bricks, leading to a law and order situation. Several vehicles were vandalised in the clashes. Kabir accused the ruling party of voter intimidation and electoral malpractice, alleging that TMC workers, “along with police”, had been influencing voters through threats and inducements since the previous night. (PTI)
