West Bengal Bypoll: BJP’s Priyanka Tibrewal accuses TMC’s Madan Mitra of booth jamming

Kolkata: BJP candidate Priyanka Tibrewal has alleged that TMC MLA Madan Mitra has purposely shut the voting machine at the polling booth of ward no. 72 in Bhabanipur as he wants to capture the booth, as reported by ANI.

Polling for byelections to three Assembly constituencies of Bhabanipur, Shamsherganj and Jangipur in West Bengal started from 7 am this morning.

Complying with every Covid-19 regulation the poll will be on till 6:30 pm.

There are 287 booths in 98 polling stations at Bhabanipur. Of these, 269 are main booths. Section 144 has been imposed up to an area of 200 meters outside each booth. The total number of electors in this constituency is 2,06,456. Of these, 95,209 are male and 95,209 are women electors.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is contesting this by-election from Bhabanipur constituency on Trinamool Congress ticket. Priyanka Tibrewal is representing BJP whereas CPM has fielded Srijib Biswas as their candidate.

All the booths in Bhabanipur Constituency have been declared sensitive. Of these, 13 booths are being mentioned as the high alert zone. The commission does not want to have any shortcomings in the cautionary practices.

The number of central forces is being increased to tighten the security with just a few hours left before the election. Keeping the recent situation in mind, the number of paramilitary forces has been increased to 20 more companies. Now, 35 company paramilitary troops are here to patrol in Bhabanipur only. For security reasons, there are three additional control rooms and 141 vehicles to escort EVMs. The Sakhawat Memorial School has two strong rooms.

Kolkata Police Headquarters, Lalbazar is strict about the security of the city. Additional forces have been deployed since Wednesday. Along with the central forces, the Kolkata police will cordon off the Bhabanipur Constituency today. 5 officers of Joint CP rank are guarding Bhabanipur along with 14 Deputy Commissioners and 14 Assistant Commissioners.

Nine Striking Forces, 13 QRT Vans, 9 Flying Squads and RAF are ready. There are female officers also in the RAF. River patrolling will continue. Police are picketing at 38 places. 100 traffic surgeons are being deployed from 5:30 am this morning. There are 7 Naka checking points in Bhabanipur Constituency only. There are bike police teams that are ready too for any emergency.

Most of the wards of Bhabanipur were submerged in rain all day on Wednesday. In this situation, the Election Commission has taken several safety measures for the disaster. Transparent polythene bags have been provided to keep the EVMs safe. So that the EVM machine does not get wet in water. Raincoats are being given to every election worker.

Policemen also have been asked to carry umbrellas and raincoats to protect themselves from the rain. The Disaster Management Department and the Civil Defense Department have arranged two boats, that can be used when the water level rises above three feet. (Inputs from UNI)