Congress candidate Piya Chowdhury accuses BJP and TMC of threatening voters in Cooch Behar

Cooch Behar (West Bengal) [India], April 19 (ANI): Amidst the first phase of voting in Lok Sabha elections, Congress candidate from West Bengal’s Cooch Behar, Piya Roy Chowdhury, cast her vote and claimed that the BJP and TMC are threatening people at the polling booths.Unhappy with the Election Commission’s work amid the elections, Piya Roy Chowdhury alleged that polling booths are witnessing violence and the elections are not being conducted in a proper way.Speaking to ANI, the Congress candidate said, “Election Commission is not working in a proper way. The number of Central Force personnel that should have been allotted at every booth is not sufficient. And that is why, people are getting injured. Many people… are being threatened to cast a particular vote. And all this is being done by BJP and TMC. Congress is a peaceful group. And TMC and BJP are fighting among themselves…”

She also claimed that the polling booths are witnessing violence and hospitals are getting filled with injured people. “I would like to say that the people of Cooch Behar want elections to be conducted in a good way but this is not happening. 10 metres away from the polling booth, the TMC office is still open. This is happening in Cooch Behar. The hospitals have started to get filled with injured people and this is happening because of violence. And this is just the beginning, the whole day is left. And the situation will be more dire after the end of elections.”

The Congress candidate from Cooch Behar also alleged that their agents were not allowed to sit at the booths. “Our agents were not allowed to sit at the booths and we will complain about this to the Election Commission… During the Lok Sabha elections also, they are not working properly…”Voting for the first phase of Lok Sabha elections 2024 began on Friday across 102 parliamentary constituencies spread over 21 states and Union Territories as the mega seven-phase electoral exercise commenced at 7:00 am. Voters will exercise their franchise until 6:00 pm.The Cooch Behar parliamentary seat is currently held by the BJP. Cooch Behar is witnessing a poll battle among TMC’s Jagdish Chandra Barma Basunia, Congress’ Piya Roy Chowdhury, and BJP’s Nisith Pramanik.

Polling in the 42 parliamentary constituencies in West Bengal will be held across all seven phases: April 19, April 26, May 4, May 13, May 20, May 25, and June 1. Cooch Behar is voting in the first phase on April 19. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking his third consecutive term, while the opposition bloc-INDIA- a coalition of opposition parties formed to take on the BJP in the general elections, is eyeing ousting him from power. According to the data released by the Election Commission of India (ECI), a total of 1.87 lakh polling stations have been set up, while 18 lakh personnel have been deployed across the 102 constituencies going to the polls.