Polling begins for 3 LS seats in Bengal; state BJP chief in fray

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Kolkata, April 26 (IANS) Polling for three Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal -- Darjeeling, Raiganh and Balurghat -- started on Friday morning under tight security cover.

In the first 30 minutes since the polling began, reports of voters' intimidation started surfacing from the Balurghat Lok Sabha constituency where the main contestant is state BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar.

Majumdar said that the two places where such complaints have mainly surfaced from at Gangarampur and Itahar.

“At Gangarampur, our agents and their family members have been intimidated since last night. This morning the same intimidation is continuing at certain places. At Itahar, a local Trinamool Congress leader has created barricades on the road and selectively allowed the voters to reach the polling stations. We have brought these matters to the notice of polling observers," Majumdar alleged.

However, no reports of poll-related tension has been reported so far from Raiganj, which is under the Election Commission's tight vigil. The polling process is also peaceful so far at Darjeeling.

As heat waves are continuing in different pockets of the state, voters were seen lining up in front of the polling booth in all three constituencies in the early hours.

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

The BJP has sitting MPs from all the three Lok Sabha constituencies.

--IANS

src/sha