Kolkata: The Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee amid allegations of rigging and violence in Sunday's Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) polling said the people of West Bengal have voted in a festive mood and those who complain were just misleading people.
Echoing the views of the Chief Minister TMC leader, Debangshu Bhattacharjee said, “never before were the KMC polls as peaceful as it had been this time. Of course, there were certain stray incidents that were conspired by the opposition parties. Attempts are on to malign the state government and state election commission. When the state election commission has declared the polling process as peaceful these allegations become baseless. However, our leader Abhishek Banerjee has promised disciplinary action against any of our party workers if found guilty.”
BJP leader Jaiprakash Majumdar who took exception termed the entire election process as farce. "It was in no way a celebration of the festival of democracy. Common voters were not allowed to cast their votes. The police have locked up elected public representatives. The manner in which the leader of the opposition, Suvendu Adhikari was heckled has tarnished the image of the people of the state," he rued.
BJP senior leader Amitava Chakrabarty, who himself was was among those heckled and reportedly thrashed by the TMC workers claimed that the TMC top brass on one hand announced that it would expel the trouble-makers while on the other its candidates are driving the opposition leaders and agents from the polling booth with the help of police.
“All the media houses have documentary evidence on this count. We want Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee to announce expulsion of these elements from the party. If they do not do that it will be clear that the promises of free and fair polls by them were just eyewash. There is another possibility that neither the chief minister nor Abhishek Banerjee have any control over the lower ranks in the party,” he said.
Former CPI(M) Lok Sabha member, Shamik Lahiri said that the mornings in West Bengal these days are darker than nights.
Political analyst and the former registrar of Calcutta University, Raja opal Dhar Chakraborty said although people expected the polls on Sunday to be peaceful, the reality has made them feel frustrated.
"There is a ray of hope. At least the top leadership officially gave a call to the party workers to refrain from violence but the lower-level workers, who are long habituated with facing the election with muscle-power, could not be controlled. Surely, good days are not far beyond," he said.
Also Read: Calcutta HC admits pleas of BJP, Left Front on KMC polls, hearing on Dec 23
