New Delhi, April 29 Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra on Wednesday cast her vote at a polling booth in Karimpur during the second phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections and said that voters were actively participating in "revenge voting", which she described as a “fight to save democracy”.
Speaking after casting her vote, the Trinamool MP said, “This time, people are participating in the fight to save democracy… Those whose names have been left out of the voter list will definitely come to vote, so definitely the voter percentage is going to remain high.”
She further alleged political backlash against the ruling party and the Election Commission, saying, “This time, people are doing revenge voting. For the past five to six months, the Election Commission has been misleading the public, and the people are responding to that. They already gave a strong reply in the first phase, and the process we began then will be completed in this second phase.”
Polling began at 7 a.m. on Wednesday for 142 constituencies across six districts in West Bengal, including the state capital Kolkata, in the second phase of the two-phase Assembly elections. The voting process started amid mild tension in certain pockets from the very first hour.
In the Bhabanipur Assembly constituency in South Kolkata, which is witnessing a high-profile political contest involving Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s brother, Kartik Banerjee, was cautioned by central forces for assembling near a police station with more people than permitted. The security personnel advised him not to gather near the polling station with more than four persons at a time.
At the Rashbehari constituency, also in South Kolkata, mild tension was reported after allegations emerged that ruling Trinamool Congress workers were preventing Congress booth agents from entering a polling booth. The Congress accused Trinamool activists of “hooliganism” during the early hours of polling.
Across the state, voters continued to queue up at polling stations as authorities maintained tight security arrangements to ensure the smooth conduct of the elections.
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