BJP, Cong demand central forces in 77,000 polling booths of WB, TMC slams

While a BJP central leadership team headed by Ravi Shankar Prasad and Nirmala Sitaraman called on the Election Commission in New Delhi and made the demands, the Congress here also demanded central armed forces in all 77,000 polling booths to ensure free and fair elections into seven-phase voting.

Congress state president Somen Mitra and party senior leader Pradip Bhattacharjee after meeting with state election officials told reporters that they demanded deployment of central armed forces in all the 77,000 booths to ensure free and fair polling.

Bhattacharjee claimed that there was a history of TMC ministers and leader intimidating the opposition parties and said the fair election was not possible under the present atmosphere.

Chief Minister and AITC chairperson Mamata Banerjee, who held a meeting with all the 42 party nominees for polls, while reacting to BJP's demand with the election commission, said the saffron brigade was trying to create instability in the state.

Senior minister and party's spokesman Firhad Hakim claimed that the BJP was trying to insult the people of the state.

He said the state was peaceful and there was no law and order problem.

Hakim claimed that in elections have been held in Bengal peacefully in the past and there was no situation to identify the state super sensitive area.

Attacking the BJP for its demands, Hakim said people have died in all BJP ruled states. In Gujarat, 2000 people were butchered and in another state, 2000 people were lynched under BJP rule.

TMC secretary-general Partha Chatterjee said BJP seemed to have conceded defeat, after making a big claim of winning 22 seats.

He said BJP was sensing defeat and was resorting to false propaganda to save itself from an imminent disaster in the state.