CPM tried to rig booths in CM's constituency: Mamata

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday alleged that the Communist Party of India - Marxist cadres had tried to rig some booths in Jadavpur constituency during the ongoing assembly polls.

"Attempts at rigging in some booths in the Jadavpur seat have been reported to me and I have information that central para-military personnel have been rendered idle and the state police asked to do the duty, slowing polling processes at the instruction of the chief minister," Banerjee told a Bengali TV news channel.

Jadavpur constituency witnessed a keen contest between Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and the state's former chief secretary Manish Gupta (Trinamool Congress).

Alleging that CPI-M activists had been indulging in intimidation and harassment of Trinamool workers in Buidhannagar, Rajarhat, Bijpur and Khardah seats, she said, "Attempts have been made to harass our candidates."

Banerjee said that the Election Commission had been appraised about the development.

"All these attempts indicate that the CPI-M is scared of defeat and it will lose all the seats in North and South 24-Parganas districts," she asserted.

She railed at the chief minister for 'encouraging electoral malpractices' and claimed that in Jadavpur constituency, he had handed over postal ballots to CPI-M cadres.
 
Banerjee further alleged that some media-persons were assaulted by CPI-M cadres in the constituency. She claimed that she had information that 'some ministers' had been threatening TV channel staff.

She said the Centre should take the responsibility of protecting voters in the sensitive areas of Arambagh, Jangalmahal, Bankura and Purulia in the next three phases of elections.

Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress candidate form Jadavpur constituency Manish Gupta alleged that central forces were not allowed to function, causing 'outsiders' to sneak into many booths in the constituency, citing particularly Ward No. 101 where such an incident allegedly happened.

Gupta told PTI that intimidation of voters was also reported from a dozen booths in that ward.