Lok Sabha Polls in West Bengal: BJP Hooghly candidate Locket Chatterjee accuses Trinamool Congress of influencing voters
Times of India | 20 May 2024
HOOGHLY/KOLKATA: BJP MP Locket Chatterjee alleged that a Trinamool booth agent was caught red-handed asking people to vote for her rival candidate, Rachana Banerjee, in the Hooghly constituency of West Bengal. According to Chatterjee, the agent, who was an AASHA worker, was instructed to sit at the booth and persuade voters to support the TMC candidate in exchange for money.
When confronted, the woman was unable to provide satisfactory answers and claimed that she was following orders from higher officials who could not be located.
"She could not say anything when countered. She said that she had been instructed by some 'Sir' who could not be found," the BJP candidate from Hooghly said.
Chatterjee said that when the police were asked about the booth agent, they said that she was in charge of maintaining the queue. However, Chatterjee hit back saying that there were not many voters at the polling station at that time.
"When I told the police, they said that she was maintaining the queue. How many people were there that she was maintaining the queue?" the BJP MP said.
The BJP MP announced her intention to report the incident, which occurred at booth number 117 in Hooghly's Dhaniakhali, to the Election Commission.
Earlier in the day, Chatterjee said that while there are instances of threats at some places in her constituency, the overall situation is peaceful and everyone will be exercising their franchise.
"Everything is going on fine...There were instances of threatening at 2-3 places at a booth in Balagarh, Dhaniakhali. EVM machines are not working at a few locations but work is going on those," Chatterjee said.
In the Hooghly constituency, the TMC has nominated actor Rachna Banerjee, while the Communist Party of India (Marxist), in alliance with the Congress as part of the INDIA bloc, has fielded Manadip Ghosh. The fifth phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections 2024 commenced on Monday morning across 49 parliamentary constituencies in six states and two Union Territories (UTs), with tight security measures in place.