Kolkata: Skirmishes broke out between Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers outside West Bengal’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) office here late on Tuesday night, triggered by TMC allegations that BJP was mass-submitting Form 6 forms to register out-of-state voters ahead of the upcoming assembly elections.
The confrontation followed heated altercations earlier in the day between supporters of both parties at the same location. With West Bengal’s two-phase assembly elections slated for later this month, tensions boiled over as TMC accused BJP of electoral manipulation.
In a post on X early Wednesday, the CEO’s office condemned the incident: “Councillor Beleghata with some hooligans gathered at the CEO’s office and shouted slogans at the dead of night. Such anti-social activities will not be tolerated, and the law will take its own course. ECI will leave no stone unturned to ensure free and fair assembly elections.”
TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee escalated the row by writing to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Tuesday, wherein she alleged: “Credible reports indicate that large numbers of Form 6 applications are being submitted by BJP agents at the CEO’s office and across several districts. These do not seem to be routine applications for voter inclusion but a mischievous ploy to include non-residents in the electoral roll.”
The BJP hit back with a letter to CEO Manoj Kumar Agarwal, accusing Banerjee of “making inflammatory and intimidatory speeches at election rallies,” according to party sources.
Responding to media queries on Tuesday, Agarwal clarified the process: “This is a government office and people may come to the receiving section to submit documents. Some Form 6 have been submitted to the receiving section of the CEO’s office. Forms can be submitted year-round. However, only voters who submit Form 6 at least ten days before the last day of nomination for any election would be enrolled. Voters, whose Form 6 was submitted after March 30, will not be enrolled for the coming polls.”
Meanwhile, authorities deployed additional police reinforcements alongside central forces outside the CEO office to restore order.
