Kolkata, April 23 (PTI): A man was on Tuesday hacked to death outside a polling booth in West Bengal, amid the third phase of Lok Sabha elections in 21 seats across across five eastern and north eastern states, officials said.
Voting also took place in 42 assembly constituencies in Odisha, along with the Lok Sabha polls.
According to the latest data available from the Election Commission, an estimated 61 per cent polling was recorded in Odisha, 78.97 per cent in West Bengal, 80.74 per cent in Assam, 60 per cent in Bihar and 80.40 per cent in Tripura.
A group of men attacked 55-year-old Tiyarul Sheikh with sharp weapons, following an altercation, when he went to vote at a booth in Baligram Primary School under Bhagwangola police station limits in Murshidabad Lok Sabha constituency, police said.
Congress candidate of Murshidabad Lok Sabha seat, Abu Hena, claimed Tiyarul was a party worker and was killed by TMC cadres.
The Election Commission has sought a report from the Murshidabad district magistrate.
Two other persons were also injured in the attack which, the Congress alleged, was perpetrated by workers of the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal.
In the third phase of the general elections, polling is being held across six Lok Sabha seats in Odisha, four constituencies in Assam, five seats each in Bihar and West Bengal and a lone constituency in Tripura.
The polling process was also briefly hampered with reports of EVM malfunctioning in some states, and the arrest of two polling agents of the ruling BJP in Tripura, an election official said.
Bombs were reportedly hurled outside a booth in Balurghat seat of West Bengal, leading to commotion, he said, adding, central forces also allegedly lathicharged a mob in Suti area of Jangipur.
Among the prominent candidates in the fray in Odisha are BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra and Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee President Niranjan Patnaik, while in Bihar, former Union minister Sharad Yadav of the JD and state minister Dinesh Chandra Yadav are contesting the polls.
The electoral battle in West Bengal for the third phase features sitting MPs and TMC candidates - Arpita Ghosh from Balurghat and Mausam Benazir Noor from Maldaha Uttar - Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee’s son Abhijit from Jangipur and BJP’s Humayun Kabir.
In Assam, noteworthy among those in the fray are two sitting MPs AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal in Dhubri and Independent Naba Sarania in Kokrajhar - BPF candidate and state social welfare minister Pramila Rani from Kokrajhar and Congress MLA Abdul Khaleque from Barpeta.
The solitary East Tripura Lok Sabha seat is witnessing a contest between BJP candidate Rebati Mohan Tripura, sitting MP Jitendra Chowdhury of the CPIand Pragya Dev Burman of the Congress.
Man hacked to death outside booth during polling in WB
A 55-year-old daily wage labourer, claimed to be a Congress activist, was hacked to death outside a polling booth in Murshidabad Lok Sabha seat, a senior official at the Election Commission said.
The Congress alleged that it was the handiwork of the Trinamool Congress but the ruling party denied the charge.
Three other persons were also injured in the incident, sources in the CEO’s office said in Kolkata.
Police sources here said Tiyarul Sheikh went to vote at the booth under Bhagwangola police station limits when a group of men attacked him with sharp weapons following an altercation.
“One Tiyarul Sheikh met with sharp cut injuries when two groups clashed with bamboo and pelted stones at each other outside a booth at Bhagwangola in Murshidabad Lok Sabha constituency. He was later declared dead,” state CEO Ariz Aftab said in Kolkata.
His daughter Hira Bibi lodged an FIR naming six persons for the killing, the CEO said.
Though the political affiliation of the accused was not mentioned in the FIR, Sheikh’s son Mehtab Hossain told reporters that TMC activists were behind the crime.
Hossain also said his father was a daily wage labourer and not associated with any political party.
Asked whether this could be described as poll-related violence, the CEO said, “The incident happened outside a booth and we are trying to find out what actually happened. We are trying to find out whether or not the people involved in the incident have political identity. The FIR did not describe the incident as poll-related violence.” So far three persons were arrested, Aftab said.
The EC sought a report from the Murshidabad district magistrate, the source at the CEO’s office said.
Congress candidate of Murshidabad Lok Sabha seat, Abu Hena, claimed, “Tiyarul was our party worker. TMC goons killed him when he went to cast his vote. The TMC men were indulged in malpractices inside the booth when Tiyarul reached there.
There was an altercation between them following which he was attacked.”
Abu Taher Khan, TMC candidate of the constituency, “I am shocked at the incident. Our party is not involved in it.
Even his family member has not mentioned anything of that sort in the FIR. However, I want proper investigation into the matter.” Khan claimed that three of his party activists were injured in the attack and are undergoing
treatment at a hospital.
The third phase of ongoing Lok Sabha elections saw the largest-ever deployment of electronic voting machines (EVMs) and voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines across 2.11 lakh polling stations spread over 13 states and 2 Union Territories, the Election Commission (EC) said on Tuesday.
Deputy Election Commissioner Sudeep Jain said that ever since their introduction, such a large number of EVMs had not be used in a single phase.
Even as snags in EVMs were reported from different polling stations like in the previous two phases on April 11 and April 18, Jain said only 0.57 per cent of ballot units and 0.58 per cent of control units of the EVM machines had to be replaced, while 2.24 per cent of total VVPATs deployed were also replaced.
“Out of total 2,81,436 ballot units deployed, 1,593 had to be replaced, while out of 2,11,158 control units, only 1,225 had to be replaced,” he told the media.
He added that out of 2,11,158 VVPATs deployed, 4,725 were replaced.
“However, one should consider that it does not mean that many VVPATs malfunctioned. Protocol says that when any ballot or control unit is not functioning and has to be replaced, the corresponding VVPAT is also replaced,” Jain said.
Earlier, there were reports of EVMs malfunctioning in different polling stations.
In Kerala, poll officials said that EVMs failed to function in some booths and were subsequently replaced. Many leaders, including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, expressed their concern over the faulty voting machines.
In Wayanad, from where Congress President Rahul Gandhi is contesting, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate Thushar Vellappally demanded re-polling after glitches were found in an EVM at a polling station.
In Uttar Pradesh, Abdullah Azam Khan, son of Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Azam Khan, who is contesting from the Rampur Lok Sabha seat, alleged that over 300 EVMs were not functioning properly.
However, Additional Chief Electoral Officer Brahma Dev Ram Tiwari said that no machine in Rampur had any problem.
SP candidate from Badaun Dharmendra Yadav lodged a complaint with the EC against the malfunctioning of EVMs and accused the district administration of conspiring for his defeat.
In the Rohilkhand region of the state, glitches were reportedly found in around 60 EVMs. Twenty-seven cases were reported from Badaun, followed by Bareilly (14), Moradabad (11), Sambhal (7), Pilibhit (5) and Aonla (5).
In Karnataka and Bihar, glitches in EVMs and VVPAT machines at many polling stations delayed or held up voting in the initial hours.
In West Bengal also, glitches in EVMs were reported at a few polling stations in the Malda North seat, stalling voting for some time.
In Goa, all the EVMs at a polling station in the Cuncolim Assembly constituency in South Goa were replaced after reports of malfunctioning.
Officials in Tripura also said that voting was temporarily halted in around 100 polling stations due to the malfunctioning of either EVMs or VVPAT machines.
