198 complaints in first three hours in first phase of voting, says Agnimitra Paul

"Today within the first three hours of the first phase of elections, 198 complaints have been lodged at the Election Commission, most of them against police, who are not trying to control the law and order situation in the state. This cannot go on," Paul said speaking to ANI on Friday, as the first phase of voting in the state is underway.

After West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Mohan Bose remarked on the stone pelting incident at a Ram Navami procession in East Medinipore district, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Medinipore Agnimitra Paul blamed the state police for not being able to control the law and order situation in the state, adding that a total of 198 complaints have been lodged at the Election Commission within the first three hours of the first phase of voting. "Today within the first three hours of the first phase of elections, 198 complaints have been lodged at the Election Commission, most of them against police, who are not trying to control the law and order situation in the state. This cannot go on," Paul said speaking to ANI on Friday, as the first phase of voting in the state is underway.

Blaming the leadership of the Trinamool Congress for allegedly using derogatory language to attack the BJP candidate from Coochbehar Nisith Pramanik, Paul said that if such people stay in power, incidents of violence are bound to happen. "In Coochbehar we have seen the kind of language used by the TMC leader against our BJP Minister and our candidate, Nisith Pramanik, we have seen such incidents time and again. If such people stay in power, the law and order situation will be like this. However, the police should have taken strict action to control the situation. But Mamata's police is completely inactive," the senior BJP leader said.

Paul also claimed that the West Bengal police knew everything about the bombs are being recovered from parts of the state. "How come Mamata's police don't know who kept the bomb at the farm and for what purpose? They know everything. If Mamata Banerjee had worked for people throughout these 13 years, such incidents would not have happened," the BJP MLA said.

Paul alleged that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wants to conduct the polls through the brute force of the police and state machinery because she fears defeat in the Lok Sabha polls. "Today people have lost faith in Mamata Banerjee and TMC and she knows it. So she wants to instill fear and conduct voting through the police and the authorities. But this won't work. The BJP will win. The complaints filed are meant to draw the attention of the Chief Election Commission," Paul said.

West Bengal will be conducting polling for its 42 parliamentary constituencies in all seven phases. Voting is underway at Coochbehar, Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri in the first phase. The counting of votes is scheduled for June 4. In most of the constituencies in the state, the main fight is between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the principal opposition in the state, the BJP.

Though the TMC is part of the INDIA bloc, it does not have a seat-sharing arrangement with the other parties in the alliance, like Congress and the Left parties in the state. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the TMC won 34 seats in the state, while the BJP had to settle for just 2 seats. The CPI (M) won 2 seats, while the Congress bagged 4.

However, the BJP came up with a much-improved showing in the 2019 polls, winning 18 seats against the TMC's 22. The Congress's tally dropped to just 2 seats, while the Left scored a blank. (ANI)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)