EC dismisses Mamata's claims about presence of 'outsiders' at Nandigram polling booth

KOLKATA: Election Commission dismissed West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee's allegations of disruption of polling at a booth in Nandigram during the second phase of assembly elections on April 1.

While rejecting the claim made by Banerjee about the presence of outsiders at a polling booth in Nandigram, the Election Commission has stated that the allegations were "factually incorrect" and "devoid of substance".

The EC sent the letter to Banerjee on Saturday in response to a complaint filed by her on April 1, when polling was held in Nandigram, alleging irregularities in the polling process.

In a rejoinder addressed to Banerjee, EC said, "preceded by a massive coverage all over the country... which showed dozens of audio-visual shots of your being in this polling station and literally hurling an avalanche of allegations on some officials working with the government of West Bengal itself, paramilitary forces and eventually the Election Commission".

Citing reports received from the ground, including its observers, the Commission said, "It is self-evident from the perusal of all the reports that the allegations mentioned in your hand-written note are factually incorrect, without any empirical evidence whatsoever and devoid of substance." The commission said it is a matter of deep regret that a "media narrative was sought to be weaved hour after hour to misguide the biggest stakeholders, which is the voters, by a candidate who also happens to be CM of the state".

During the second phase of election Banerjee who is contesting from Nandigram visited Boyal while polling was underway.

As per reports, the Chief Electoral Officer stated that Banerjee was stuck in the booth for almost two hours as two groups of people raised slogans against each other. After the situation was controlled by the CAPF personnel and senior officers, she was rescued from the scene.

Later Banerjee claimed that 'outsiders' were brought in the state to create chaos. She also accused the EC of not acting on complaints of alleged irregularities in the polling process in Nandigram lodged by her party, Trinamool Congress.

Taking a dig at Banerjee, BJP leader in a tweet said that the lies of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee about the alleged disruption of polling in Nandigram have been exposed by the Election Commission of India has dismissed her claims.

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