Bengal polls 2016: Violence rocks Birbhum district after election gets over
Panrui
(West
Bengal),
April
18:
Violence
continued
to
rock
Birbhum
district
even
after
elections
got
over
in
the
South
Bengal
district
on
Sunday
(April
17).
Assembly
Polls
2016
Full
Coverage;
79.70%
turnout
in
Phase
2
The night after the polls saw firing and bombing, leading to the suspension of local officer-in-charge Debabrata Sinha by District Police Superintendent Sabyasachi Raman Mishra. He was suspended on charges of failing to protect the law and order situation.
Birbhum district Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Anubrata Mandal, who was kept under vigilance by the Election Commission (EC) in this election with limited success, had warned the Opposition of violence ahead of the election and it started as soon as the election got over. Mandal, however, blamed the CPI(M) for the violence, saying the first attack was made by it. "Will we just face the music," he asked.
The Opposition has found a link between Mandal's warning and the clashes that occurred on Sunday night.
Eleven seats in Birbhum district went to polls on Sunday with Mandal confidently claiming that the ruling party would win all of them. The TMC has six of the 11 seats at the moment.
Mandal courted controversy on Sunday after entering the polling booth wearing the party badge to cast his ballot. When asked, he said he overlooked the matter but refused to apologise.
The BJP later approached the EC seeking cancellation of polling in all the constituencies in the district.
Oneindia News