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Four Left parties today demanded immediate re-poll in around 3200 polling booths in West Bengal, alleging massive rigging by the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC).
The left parties, as part of a nationwide protest today, held a rally at Jantar Mantar here in support of their demand.
Leaders Prakash Karat, Sitaram Yechury and Brinda Karat (all CPI(M)), A B Bardhan, Sudhakar Reddy and D Raja (CPI), Debabrata Biswas (AIFB) and leaders of RSP participated in the protest
"In the 3rd, 4th and 5th phases of elections, around 3200 polling booths were rigged by the TMC workers. Voters were threatened, assaulted and even shot at by the goons of the TMC, so that they could be prevented from casting their votes. Since TMC has come into power, malpractice is repeatedly being adopted in every poll by TMC," Prakash Karat said while addressing the rally here.
Karat said that Left parties want Election Commission to hold immediate re-poll in around 3200 polling booths where rigging was done by the TMC goons.
"We informed EC about possible rigging in polling booths two months back, but it did nothing in this regard. Since the Lok Sabha elections started, rigging was done from 3rd phase to 5th phase of elections in West Bengal.
Besides, hijacking polling booths, voters were assaulted, shot at as we got to see such incident in Basirhat parliamentary constituency on May 12 in which four persons were critically injured while 17 others were injured," Karat o said.
He also said that media has also written several reports on this matter and Opposition parties also gave evidence of malpractices, but EC has so far not decided to conduct re-poll in affected polling booths. The ruling party has roped in police and administration to 'kill' the democratic system there.
Another CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury said "We have given a list of rigged polling booths to the EC, which should announce re-poll in affected booths. If EC doesn't pay heed to our demand, we are then ready for political fight, which would last for a long time. Left parties ran government for 32 years in West Bengal, but we never tried to kill democratic system".
Brinda Karat said that media showed how the goons of TMC were casting fake votes at polling booths, but EC's special observer did not get to see anything wrong there.
CPI leaders A B Bardhan and D Raja also slammed EC for not taking any action against TMC and demanded immediate re-poll in affected polling booths.
