Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee directly accused chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee of engineering rigging in his Jadavpur constituency.
“He has always won through rigging and even today, his party cadres have indulged in rigging,” she said, adding that she was not making these allegations without evidence. The Trinamul Congress would lodge a complaint with the Election Commission, she added.
Ms Banerjee even mentioned names of polling stations where according to her rigging had taken place. “He will not be able to win even after resorting to rigging,” she claimed.
Ms Banerjee also alleged that CPI(M) supporters had tried to slow down the polling process in several constituencies, including Rajarhat and Bidhannagar.
Rejecting her charges, CPI(M) central committee member Gautam Deb said that instead of making such allegations to the media, the Trinamul Congress chief should lodge the complaint with the Election Commission. “She should demand repolling in the booths where she has found evidence of rigging,” he added.
Till 8 pm, no complaint was lodged from Trinamul Congress at the Election Commission in this regard. When the chief minister was asked about Ms Banerjee’s rigging charge, he refused to comment.
CPI(M) state secretary Biman Bose alleged large-scale rigging and assault on his party’s polling agent in Bijpur constituency in North 24 Parganas. “We demand repolling in 22 polling booths,” he added. Significantly, Trinamul Congress candidate in Bijpur Subhranshu Roy was earlier arrested for assaulting Election Commission personnel. He was later granted bail.