Three Lok Sabha constituencies in West Bengal will have voting on Friday in the first phase of the elections. More than 260 companies of security forces have been deployed in the state out of which 112 companies have been placed only in Cooch Behar. That’s because poll-related violence has been a major concern in this constituency.
On Thursday, two Trinamool Congress workers were injured in an attack in the north Bengal seat. While TMC leaders blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party for the incident, the saffron outfit rejected the claim.
There are around 2,537 voting booths in the Cooch Behar constituency this time and more than 300 of these have been identified as “sensitive”.
On the Election Commission of India’s list, the Cooch Behar (SC) seat is at no. 1. The constituency is held by union minister of state for home affairs Nisith Pramanik of the BJP. The area has witnessed violence in past panchayat, assembly, and Lok Sabha polls. Therefore, observers say, the tension here is palpable and booth workers of various parties and election officials too are a bit anxious.
The CISF firing incident during the assembly polls at Sitalkuchi in 2021, which killed four youths and, subsequently, created a massive political dust-up bears testimony to the vulnerability to poll-related violence in this Bangladesh-bordering district.
Speaking to News18, Cooch Behar’s district magistrate said, “All arrangements have been made and the administration will do everything for free-and-fair elections. So, via the media, I urge people to go and vote.”
As many as 102 Lok Sabha seats will be going for polls in the first phase of the elections across the country on Friday.
Pramanik, the BJP candidate from the Cooch Behar seat, will face Trinamool Congress nominee Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia. The Congress has fielded Priya Roy Choudhury as its candidate, while the Forward Bloc has nominated Nitish Chandra Roy.
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