Hyderabad: Rallies, roadshows, ad campaigns to woo voters; elections in India are accompanied by much fanfare and passion. With political opponents clashing and trying to one-up each other, emotions run high. Even though the elections in most cases are carried out with ease by the Election Commission of India, there are certain pockets of the country where the election process is often marred with violence.
West Bengal has long been notorious for political violence, with clashes between supporters of opposing political parties turning deadly. With the 2021 state Assembly election, the cycle of violence has begun anew. The state has already seen the death of five people in poll-related violence in the fourth phase of the eight-phase West Bengal Assembly Elections 2021.
Also read:Cooch Behar firing: EC gives clean chit to CISF, says it fired in 'self-defence'
In a recent incident, four people were killed after the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel opened fire on an unruly mob near Booth No. 126 at Amtali in Jor Patki village in Sitalkuchi. The Election Commission later gave a clean chit to the CISF, saying that opening fire 'became necessary to save the lives of the voters' and it was made in 'self-defence'.
In another incident, a first-time voter Ananda Barman (18) of Pathantuli, Golenawhati GP, Sitalkuchi, Cooch Behar died when he was shot at from a firearm by unknown miscreants.