New Delhi: The Election Commission has decreed a re-election at one polling station each in the Barasat and Mathurapur Lok Sabha constituencies in West Bengal on Monday, just one day before the vote tallying.
According to the directive from the electoral body, re-election will transpire at 61 Kadambagachi Saradar Pada FP School, Room No. 2 of 120-Deganga Assembly Constituency within the 17 Barasat Parliamentary Constituency, and 26 Aaddir Mahal Srichaitanya Bidyapith FP School of 131-Kakdwip Assembly Constituency within the 20-Mathurapur (SC) Parliamentary Constituency in West Bengal.
In correspondence to the Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal, the Election Commission articulated, “I am instructed to convey that based on the intelligence garnered from the respective Returning Officer, District Electoral Officer, and Observers of the 17-Barasat PC and 20-Mathurapur (SC) PC, concerning the polling conducted for the General Election to Lok Sabha in West Bengal State, 2024, held on June 1, 2024.”
“After considering all substantial circumstances, the Commission hereby declares under subsection (2) of Section 58 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, that the election conducted on June 1, 2024, for the aforementioned stations (as delineated in Column 3 of the table below) to be invalid and designates June 3, 2024, as the date, and specifies the hours as listed in Column (4) of the table below, for executing a fresh election at the stated polling stations, in accordance with the Commission’s guidelines contained in paragraphs 13.62 of Chapter XIII of the Handbook for Returning Officer, 2023,” the EC elaborated.
Skirmishes erupted between adherents of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), Indian Secular Front (ISF), and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) across various locales in the State during the seventh and final phase of Lok Sabha elections on June 1. An alleged altercation occurred between Trinamool Congress and BJP activists at Bayarbari in West Bengal’s Basirhat amid the concluding phase of the Lok Sabha election on Saturday.
Another clash emerged between TMC and BJP activists at Meraganj in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district, resulting in multiple injuries. Concurrently, as West Bengal police attempted to detain a suspected individual linked to the violence on Saturday in Basirhat’s Sandeshkhali, local women intervened, leading to a fracas on Sunday. The police were there to apprehend BJP worker Sadhan Nandi.