While results are awaited in some seats, Trinamool has emerged as the clear winner
Kolkata:
West Bengal’s panchayat elections, while marred by violent clashes between rivals, also featured bizarre acts by candidates desperate to win and unwilling to accept defeat.
A CPM candidate in North 24 Parganas district has claimed that his Trinamool Congress rival ate a number of ballots when he started falling behind. Counting at Bhurkunda panchayat block stand was suspended thereafter.
Speaking to local media, Rabindranath Majumdar of the CPM claimed that he had won the election by four votes. “They (Trinamool) didn’t even ask for a recount. Mahadeb Mati (Trinamool’s candidate) entered the voting booth, took a bundle of ballots from my box and started chewing on them. He also threw some around and then left,” a shocked Mr. Majumdar said.
According to reports, the administration has yet to announce a winner.
In another incident in Coochbehar in North Bengal, BJP associates reportedly started what can best be described as a ballot box relay race.
BJP workers at a voting booth in Mathabhanga accused the ruling party of rigging the election and reportedly lifted the ballot box and fled the booth. The box changed hands, like a relay race, as villagers chased it.
In a panchayat area in New Town near Kolkata, Trinamool workers reportedly threw a ballot box down a drain.
In another booth, also in North 24 Parganas, a Trinamool associate, anticipating the party candidate’s defeat, fled with the ballot box and jumped into a pond.
The incidents reflect the utter chaos that characterized rural Bengal polls this time. Political violence in rural polls claimed as many as 40 lives. Incidents of ballot boxes being set on fire, water pouring into them and arson at voting booths were also reported.
While results are awaited in some seats, the Trinamool has emerged as the clear winner, with the BJP finishing a distant second.
