Maoist violence mars WB polls, LF happy with polling

The way Bengal voted on Thursday brought cheer to the Left Front and left the Congress-Trinamool combine worried. The turnout in 14 constituencies was very low. Not a single vote was cast at 92 booths for Maoist fear in the first half, but polling shot up rapidly in the second. This pattern has traditionally yielded good results for the Left.

Till 2 pm, the polling percentage was 35. However, by the time voting ended, it had risen to 64. “Had there been high anti-incumbency, the turnout would have been higher from the beginning,” a political analyst said.

The Congress and the Trinamool alleged large-scale rigging by CPI(M) workers. Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee said CPI-M resorted to rigging in many booths in Jhargram, Midnapore and Ghatal constituencies. “We will seek re-polling in these, especially in Keshpur assembly segment,” a Trinamool leader said.

Meanwhile, two polling officers and their driver were killed and several injured in a landmine blast by Maoists at Jamboni, West Midnapore. In another blast outside a booth at Purulia, two BSF jawans were injured.