Polling for 3 LS seats begins in Bengal under tight security cover

KOLKATA:

Polling for Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal started on Friday morning under tight security cover.

However, in the first 30 minutes since the polling began, reports of tension had started surfacing from certain pockets in the Cooch Behar constituency, which is under the scanner of the Election Commission of India.

Voters were seen lining up in front of the polling booth in all three constituencies in the early hours.

Interacting with the media persons, early voters said that the two reasons that prompted them to reach polling stations early were to avoid the heat as well as the long queues in the latter part of the day.

The polling began with a tragedy at Mathabhanga in Cooch Behar district, where a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawan, who was admitted to a hospital, died early Friday morning. The said jawan, identified as Nilesh Kumar Nilu (42), was admitted to a local hospital on Thursday night after he complained of uneasiness. He was a resident of Bihar.

Governor C.V. Ananda Bose on Friday told media persons that he will be keeping a watch on the developments throughout the day from the Peace Room within the premises of the Raj Bhavan in Kolkata.

Polling is continuing in 2,043 booths at Cooch Behar, 1,867 in Alipurduar and 1,904 in Jalpaiguri.


INDIA    TAMIL NADU    CHENNAI   
INDIA    NEW DELHI    NEW DELHI   
TRIPURA    GOMATI    AMAPUR   
NORTH EAST    ASSAM    GUWAHATI   
TRIPURA    WEST TRIPURA    AGARTALA   
TRIPURA    WEST TRIPURA    AGARTALA   
TRIPURA    WEST TRIPURA    AGARTALA   

BJP Janjati Morcha slams CPIM’s tribal wing

The Janjati Morcha, the tribal wing of Tripura’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has strongly criticized the Gana Mukti Parishad (GMP), the tribal wing of the opposition CPI(M), for accusing the government of neglecting indigenous communities. The BJP leaders dismissed the allegations as baseless and labeled GMP’s planned Raj Bhawan Abhiyan on January 9 as a futile exercise.

TRIPURA    WEST TRIPURA    AGARTALA