Despite all the efforts in West Bengal, electoral violence has not been curbed. Due to this, there are often violent incidents during election campaigning, voting or counting of votes. The vehicle of Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Agnimitra Paul was allegedly pelted with stones in the by-election for the Asansol Lok Sabha seat on Tuesday morning, creating tension in the area. BJP has accused TMC workers regarding this. Both the sides are blaming each other while claiming themselves to be clean.
He resigned as the Asansol MP after Babul Supriyo joined the Trinamool Congress from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), while Subrata Mukherjee, the state minister representing Ballygunge, died last year. By-elections are being held on both the seats that fell vacant due to these reasons.
Polling started at 7 am in Asansol and Ballygunge and went on till 6.30 pm. 64.3 per cent polling was recorded till 5 pm in Asansol, while 41.10 per cent people cast their votes in Ballygunge assembly seat.
BJP candidate Agnimitra Paul alleged, “My ‘polling agent’ was not allowed to enter a polling booth in Barabani. My vehicle was attacked and the police remained mute spectators.” At the same time, the Trinamool Congress alleged that Paul and his security personnel tried to create unrest in the area. A Trinamool leader said, “How can a candidate leave with a convoy of 20 vehicles? He and his security personnel were trying to create tension in the area.”
On the other hand, talking about the attack on Agnimitra Paul, Shatrughan Sinha of TMC said that he does not know whether the alleged attack on BJP leader Agnimitra Paul’s car is confirmed or not. To this Agnimitra Paul said, “Tell them to call me, I will tell if it is verified or not.”
BJP candidate for Asansol Lok Sabha bypoll Agnimitra Paul said, “I am not alleging that my car was attacked, but I am stating that my car was attacked. Shatrughan Sinha says he doesn’t know if anything happened or not, incident happened or not, is it verified or not, ask him to call me to know all this.”
The Election Commission said that it has received a complaint regarding the matter. “We will look into it,” an official said. According to the Election Commission, voting for the by-elections to the Asansol Lok Sabha and Ballygunge assembly seats began at 7 am on Tuesday amid tight security.