The Election Commission of India (ECI) has sought a report from the presiding officer after taking cognisance of reports that the BJP candidate for Kaliganj Assembly seat, Ashish Ghosh, made a vulgar gesture after casting his vote in the by-election on Thursday.
The EC has also sought the CCTV footage of the booth to verify what happened.
Meanwhile, the voting progressed peacefully with a turnout of 69.85 per cent recorded till 5 pm.
Controversy erupted after the BJP candidate showed his inked middle finger to mediapersons after casting vote at Annapurna Primary School in Debagram in Kaliganj Thursday morning.
“After the election, the BJP has shown middle finger to the people. This is basically the original character of the BJP,” TMC spokesperson Debangshu Bhattacharya said.
Kaliganj Block TMC president Debabrata Mukhopadhyay said: “The BJP is importing external culture on the soil of Bengal. This behaviour is proof. Such behavior is never desirable in the culture and politics of Bengal.”
In his defence, Ghosh claimed, “I was given ink in such a way that I was obliged to show the middle finger. I did not want to convey any vulgar message.”
He later complained to the EC against the official, who inked his finger.
Sources in the EC said that stern action would be taken against the official, if he or she is found at fault.
Meanwhile, both the BJP and the Congress accused the ruling TMC of “terrorising” polling agents of their parties.
Ghosh, who was seen involved in an altercation with the presiding officer after his polling agent was allegedly removed from a booth, said: “The TMC tried its best to loot the election process. They also attempted false polling and booth jamming, but the Election Commission did their job well. The Central forces were alert too.”
The Election Commission deployed 14 companies of Central forces in the Assembly seat.
Congress candidate Kabil Uddin Sheikh, who is being backed by the Left Front, alleged that his polling agents were beaten by TMC supporters at some of the booths.
“In some places, TMC workers beat up our polling agents, and forced them to leave. We reinstated them. We were able to station polling agents in all the booths of the Assembly constituency,” the Congress candidate said.
TMC candidate Alifa Ahmed, who cast her vote at Mira Girls School of Plassey, exuded confidence of winning from the seat, which was represented by her father.
“I am sure that TMC will win, and I will try to use my 10 years of corporate experience and what I learnt from my father, to help people and develop Kaliganj area,” said the 38-year-old BTech graduate who works in a renowned IT company.
The death of her father, Nasiruddin Ahamed, in February this year, led to the bypoll in Kaliganj.
“In West Bengal, there is no place for communalism and people have no option other than Trinamool Congress and Mamata Banerjee,” she added.
The voting was sluggish in the morning due to rain, and started to gain pace as the day progressed. A boat carrying voters to a booth across the Hooghly river got stranded. The people were later rescued.