Falta, South 24 Parganas: Protests broke out in Falta, South 24 Parganas, on Saturday fuelled by locals’ accusations of coercion and threats from All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers in anticipation of the West Bengal Assembly election results on May 4.
Authorities rolled out extensive security in the zone, deploying Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Rapid Action Force (RAF) teams at strategic locations. An armoured CRPF vehicle also arrived as a proactive measure to preserve peace and stability against escalating friction, ANI reported.
Demonstrators, featuring many women, voiced alarms over personal security and called for accountability from those accused. One resident woman stated: “TMC’s Israfil Chowkidar has threatened us that if these people win, they will burn our houses and carry out bloodshed.” Another charged that even TMC voters faced reprisals: “We had voted for TMC, yet they attacked us… We want him to be arrested. We need safety for women,” she said.
The demonstration comes amid ongoing repolls at 15 polling stations in Magrahat Paschim and Diamond Harbour segments, ordered by the Election Commission of India (ECI) due to flaws noted in Phase-II voting.
ECI records at 2 PM indicated 56.33% turnout in AC No. 142 Magrahat Paschim and 54.9% in AC No. 143 Diamond Harbour, yielding a repoll average of 55.57%.
Elsewhere, EVM strongroom disputes boiled over. All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) accused a Returning Officer at Khudiram Anushilan Kendra — now an EVM storage facility — of illicit postal ballot envelope sorting and filed a formal complaint.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) raised similar concerns of an unsanctioned strongroom access, resulting to an investigation that led to the reported suspension of at least six staffers.
