Congress' Adhir Ranjan accuses TMC of 'stealing' phase-8 WB polls postal ballots; tells EC

Ahead of the last phase of voting in West Bengal, senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has written a letter to Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra accusing TMC candidate Narugopal Mukherjee of stealing postal ballots. According to Congress MP Chowdhury, these ballots were to be used during phase 8 voting scheduled on April 29. Mukherjee has been accused of stealing ballots to forcefully cast vote in his favour. 

Narugopal Mukherjee is a candidate from 72 Berhampore assembly constituency. 

"It is learned from officials of Berhampore municipality who have been deployed for election duty on April 29, 2021, that their postal ballots have been taken away by Narugopal Mukherjee who is a TMC candidate from 72 Berhampore assembly constituency and cast vote in his favour by persuasion, force, and threat [sic]," added Chowdhury in his letter to EC. 

The Congress leader further added that municipal staff is not being able to raise their voice due to the fear of losing their jobs. It is a criminal offense to corruptly cast vote on postal ballot under illegal exercise of power, he said.

He further urged EC to ensure free and honest elections by suspending these ballots that were for staff of Berhampore municipality. 

"I, therefore, request you to cancel those postal ballots meant for staff of Berhampore municipality who are booked n election duty on the last phase of election scheduled on April 29, 2021 and allow those staff to recast their vote on the postal ballot to ensure a free and fair election," wrote Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. 

West Bengal Elections 2021

The voting in seven phases has already taken place in West Bengal with several unfortunate incidents. The last phase (phase 8) is scheduled for April 29 while the result of the elections will be declared on May 2. On April 29 voting will be held in 6 constituencies of Malda, 11 in Murshidabad, 7 of Kolkata North, and 11 in Birbhum. Meanwhile, EC has banned any victory celebrations after or before counting of votes amid COVID-19 crisis in the country. West Bengal is specifically reporting a surge in cases with highest single-day record of 15,992 fresh infections on Monday.

(inputs from ANI)