A BJP delegation on Friday approached the Election Commission (EC) demanding re-polling in 297 booths in West Bengal's Cooch Behar Lok Sabha constituency that voted on Thursday in the first phase of polling.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) delegation also urged the poll body to ensure deployment of central forces in all polling booths for free and fair elections.
The delegation, comprising Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and its media head Anil Baluni, submitted to the EC a memorandum, accusing the Trinamool Congress (TMC) of rigging during the first phase of polling.
"TMC goons prevented people from voting in West Bengal on Thursday. We demanded re-polling and stationing of two CAPF soldiers in every booth in the state," Naqvi told reporters.
Hitting out at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, he said: "There were instances of rigging and booth capture... 'goondagardi' (hooliganism) was done by TMC's 'goondas' during the first phase of polling."
Cooch Behar's BJP candidate Nishit Pramanik had held a protest in front of the District Magistrate's office on Thursday evening, demanding a re-poll in all the booths where central forces were not deployed.
--IANS
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