Key Points
Forty-year-old Subir Das, a school teacher who served as a polling officer in Murshidabad district in south West Bengal during the panchayat elections on Saturday, was among several officials who complained of malpractices like booth capturing and damaging of ballot boxes, as political parties spread fear through violence and arson to keep voters and polling agents of rivals at bay..
At least 19 people were killed and several injured in a wave of violence that marked the single-phase elections on Saturday, raising questions over the role of the state election commissions (SEC) to ensure smooth conduct of polling..
In the run up to the polls, the Calcutta high court had directed SEC to requisition central forces and deploy them especially in constituencies that the polling body had already declared to be sensitive..
We told the court that there were around 4,863 sensitive booths, which is around 7.84% of the total polling stations, a senior SEC official said, wishing not to be named..
Amid allegations by opposition parties that the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) was behind the spate of violence, cabinet minister Firhad Hakim reiterated that polling was peaceful and violence took place only in around 60 of the states 61,636 polling booths a claim made by the party on Saturday..
