West Bengal: Alleging rigging, BJP demands fresh polling in Asansol, Bidhannagar

Alleging widespread rigging, the BJP on Sunday demanded that the civic elections in Asansol and Bidhannagar be cancelled and fresh polling be held. In a letter to the State Election Commission (SEC), BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar alleged that while widespread rigging took place during the polls on Saturday, police became a silent spectator.

"We demand the polling in these two civic bodies be cancelled immediately and fresh polls ordered. We are not making such demands for Chandannagar and Siliguri as polling was not reduced to a farce in these two municipal corporations," he said.

In the letter, Majumdar cited the Calcutta High Court's directive to the SEC to ensure free and fair polls.


An SEC official said there were no plans to countermand the elections in Bidhannagar, Asansol, Chandannagar and Siliguri, and preparations were in full swing for counting of votes on Monday.

TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh claimed that by alleging rigging, the BJP was preparing grounds for reasoning the imminent defeat.

"A section of the BJP is demanding the scrapping of the district committees, and Sukanta Majumdar is busy deflecting attention from the crisis within his party by making absurd demands," Ghosh told PTI.