Amid violence during the second phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee arrived at a polling booth in Nandigram, as she gears up to face her protege-turned-rival Suvendu Adhikari in a high-stakes battle.
Banerjee's arrival came amid allegations of booth capturing by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). However, Trinamool Congress (TMC) agents alleged that they are not being allowed to enter the polling booths in Nandigram.
Intense sloganeering could be heard as Banerjee sat inside the booth, with loud iterations of BJP's 'Jai Shree Ram'.
Reacting to the slogans against her, Banerjee said: "None of the people are speaking in the Bengali language. All of them are outsiders. They are goons sent from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and they are being protected by Central forces."
Banerjee further informed that 63 complaints regarding booth capturing have been sent to the Election Commission (EC). She also personally held a discussion with State Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar over a call regarding the issue.
As the situation turned chaotic outside the booth, the Chief Minister seemed visibly angry.
Voting for the second phase of the West Bengal Assembly election began at 7 am on Thursday.
Earlier today, TMC leader Derek O'Brien submitted a complaint to the Election Commission (EC) alleging booth capturing in Purba Medinipur during the second phase of West Bengal Assembly elections.
O'Brien alleged that booth capturing in polling station numbers 6, 7, 49, 27, 162, 21, 26, 13, 262, 256, 163, and 30 were taking place.
Meanwhile, the Left party also held a protest alleging TMC of not letting their workers go to the polling booths to cast their votes.
In phase-II, a total of 30 Assembly constituencies from the districts of South 24 Parganas, Bankura, Paschim Medinipur and Purba Medinipur are heading in to vote.
Out of the 171 candidates in the fray, 152 are men and the remaining are women. It means only 11 per cent of the candidates are women.
Among these candidates, two are undoubtedly the most prominent figures, that is, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her former ministerial colleague Suvendu Adhikari, who had joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in December last year.
Nandigram is experiencing the most high-profile contest with Banerjee and Adhikari taking on each other. Adhikari had earlier pledged that he would quit politics if he does not defeat Mamata Banerjee by 50,000 votes in Nandigram.
( With inputs from ANI )
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