Elderly man died after central forces pushed him at polling booth: TMC's big charge

As bumper voting for the Phase 2 of West Bengal Assembly polls ended, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Wednesday alleged that an elderly man died after central forces manhandled and pushed him at a polling booth in Udaynarayanpur in Howrah district.

In a tweet, TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee alleged that central forces manhandled the victim as he was being helped by his son to walk inside the polling booth. Posting a video showing the victim's body and his grieving family members next to it, Banerjee claimed the central forces became the BJP's "private army" and were "terrorising" voters by manhandling and assaulting them.

"Central forces under Amit Shah have become the BJP’s private army. A gang of licenced thugs unleashed on the people of Bengal. In Udaynarayanpur, an elderly man went to cast his vote with his son. Too frail to walk unaided, his son tried to help him into the booth. Central forces pushed and manhandled both. The old man collapsed, was rushed to Amta Hospital and declared dead on arrival," he said.

The BJP is yet to react to Banerjee's claims.

In the post, Banerjee claimed that the central forces have been slapping women, assaulting the elderly and not sparing children too.

"Since dawn, these central forces have been terrorising ordinary citizens – slapping women, assaulting the elderly, attacking even children. This is the Sitakulchi mentality of 2021: cold-blooded, merciless violence against unarmed civilians. The BJP paid a heavy price for the blood of innocents in 2021. They will pay an even heavier price in 2026," Banerjee said.

He gave a strict warning, saying the TMC would hunt those involved in assaulting voters and be made to "face the full force of the law".

"It doesn’t matter which state you come from. It doesn’t matter whose political patronage shields you. Every single one of you involved in this barbarism will be hunted down and made to face the full force of the law. Your reign of terror will end in total ruin," the Diamond Harbour MP said.

TMC QUESTIONS CONTINUED DEPLOYMENT OF CENTRAL FORCES POST-POLLING

Meanwhile, TMC sources slammed the BJP over the continued deployment of central forces in West Bengal despite polling ending at 6 pm today. They questioned why the BJP had asked 700 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) to stay back in the state.

Earlier, Home Minister Amit Shah announced that the central forces will remain in the state for 60 days after the Assembly polls.

Around 2.5 lakh central police personnel, organised into a record 2,450 CAPF companies of nearly 100 personnel each, are currently deployed across West Bengal. Of these, 2,321 CAPF companies have been assigned for the second phase of polling.

BUMPER VOTING IN BENGAL POLLS PHASE 2

West Bengal voted in two phases – for 152 seats on April 23 – and the remaining 142 seats today. The turnout in the second phase of polling was 89.99 per cent by 5 pm, overtaking the 80.4 per cent recorded for the same 142 seats in the 2021 Assembly polls.

Officials said the final turnout is likely to climb further. Voters who had entered booths before closing time will be allowed to cast their ballots, which could push the figure closer to the 95 per cent mark.

Ausgram in Purba Bardhaman district reported the highest turnout at 94.06 per cent, followed by Habra in North 24 Parganas district at 93 per cent. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Bhabanipur constituency in Kolkata recorded 85.51 per cent polling till 5 pm.

A voter turnout of 93.19 per cent was recorded in the first phase of polls, the highest since Independence. Results will be declared on May 4.