KOLKATA, May 2: Demanding safety after counting of votes, hundreds of villagers staged a protest for over seven hours at Falta in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district on Saturday, alleging they were receiving life threats from TMC workers in the area.
The protesters, many of them women and holding BJP flags, blocked the road in Hasimnagar village, alleging that local panchayat pradhan Israfil, a close associate of TMC candidate Jehangir Khan, issued them threats of attacks after poll results are announced.
The CRPF deputy commandant visited the area with a large force and armoured vehicle and assured the demonstrators of ensuring their safety.
Khan dismissed the allegations and said the women were “deployed” by the BJP to stage the demonstration and engineer the arrest of TMC functionaries in the area before the counting to “harm the morale of the TMC supporters”.
“If the charges are proved, I am ready to face the law,” he said.
Fatima Bibi, one of the protesters belonging to the BJP’s Mahila Morcha, claimed Israfil and his men “have been visiting the area since April 30 and threatening us that there would be bloodshed from May 5. We demand CRPF remain in the area”.
The CRPF official said, “We are here to instill confidence among the people with the support of local police. We have assured them of full security.”
At 7 pm, the protestors lifted the blockade following assurance by the EC that their grievances would be addressed and action taken against the accused.
“We have also demanded repolling in our booth in the constituency as the April 29 voting was one-sided in favour of a single party till 1 pm. The EC promised to look into our demands,” Bipul Naskar, a protester, said.
An Election Commission official said a report has been sought about the protests from the district administration. (PTI)
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