West Bengal leading with high voter turnout in the penultimate phase suffered violent clashes on May 25.
With the highest voter turnout (78%) in Phase 6, West Bengal witnessed violent clashes in which 2 died and a BJP candidate was attacked on Saturday.
Stone Pelting in Bengal’s Jhargram
On May 25, while the 57 constituencies across the country were busy polling, Jhargram in West Bengal witnessed violent clashes. The BJP candidate from Jhargram, Pranat Tudu, while on his way to Garbeta, found himself under the attack of the stone pelters and sustained injuries. The stone pelters were likely members of Trinamool Congress, as per Tudu.
“All of a sudden, TMC goons who had blocked the roads started hurling bricks at my car. When my security personnel tried to intervene, they were injured. Two CISF jawans accompanying me received head injuries and had to be hospitalized,” Tudu said.
The moment has been captured in a camera which is going viral on social media platforms. In the video, Tudu, his security and surrounding media crews were being chased by a mob that was throwing stones at them. Media vans, including Tudu’s vehicle, had been vandalized.
Our Candidate Dr. Pranat Tudu has come under massive stone pelting by goons at Jhargram. Currently even Central Forces are having to retreat to save their life. ECI was repeatedly alerted about this going to be a violent phase yet they never took appropriate measures to address… pic.twitter.com/IoaJkFJv4z
— Sudhanidhi Bandyopadhyay (@SudhanidhiB) May 25, 2024
TMC alleges
Countering the BJP candidate’s accusations, the TMC claimed that Tudu was intimidating voters in Garbeta and his security personnel had beated a female voter at one of the polling stations.
“The BJP nominee was threatening voters. The villagers got enraged and staged a protest,” a local TMC leader responded.
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Importance of Jhargram
Jhargram is a significant constituency for the BJP, having won it in 2019 amidst a remarkable performance in West Bengal, where the party increased its seats from 2 to 18. In the 2019 elections, BJP candidate Kunar Hembram narrowly defeated the TMC’s Birbaha Saren by approximately 12,000 votes.
This year, BJP candidate Pranat Tudu is set against Sonamani Tudu of CPI(M) and Kalipada Soren of Trinamool Congress.
Sonamani Tudu is a social activist, often known by the title “Pad Woman” for raising awareness on women’s menstruation and fighting the stigmas against it. On the other hand, TMC candidate Kalipada Soren is a writer in Santhali with 31 works published under his name. In 2022, he was honored with the Sahitya Akademi Award for his remarkable contribution to literature and education.
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