While calling Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar from inside the Boyal Maqtab Primary School booth and writing a two-page letter to the Election Commission, supporters of Trinamool and BJP fought in an adjacent rice field. Crowds of BJP sympathizers had entered the neighborhood, “Jai Shri Ram” on their lips, around 1.40 pm upon learning that the CM had arrived. Mamata sat in her wheelchair in the hallway leading to the voting booth as Trinamool supporters clashed with the BJP contingent, each side throwing stones at the other and some punching each other as central forces, RAF and state police personnel struggled to disconnect them.
Then groups of women headed toward the one-story school building, chanting pro-BJP slogans. Two EC observers arrived at the booth a little before 3pm and heard from Mamata how their electoral agent had allegedly been expelled three times. “The EC has closed Section 144 around the booth. How can BJP supporters in such massive numbers congregate within that radius to sing Jai Shri Ram?” she asked.
The CM spent 80 minutes locked inside before being escorted around 4pm. He gave a copy of his complaint to the officer in charge of the Nandigram Police Station and asked him to treat it as an FIR. “There is a commotion outside the booth. People are armed. Anything can happen. 80% of the votes have already been cast. The votes have been rigged,” Mamata had told Governor Dhankhar by phone.
Nandigram reported 80.8% of the polls as of 5 p.m., a tone lower than the 2016 turnout of 86.9%. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the constituency had registered a voting percentage of 84.2.
Special observer Nagendra Nath Tripathi, who had arrived to inform the CM of the “crowd control measures”, was in the line of fire as Mamata complained that “outsiders” were allowed to run free. “They are still shouting slogans. Is this a choice?” she said. “I will not forgive you if a single person is injured. One of my supporters was killed in Keshpur on Wednesday.”
Addressing reporters as he left, the CM said: “We submitted 63 complaints to the EC. I am not concerned about Nandigram. I am concerned about democracy as the polls here have been rigged.”
He threatened to change the court if the EC did not address TMC’s complaints.
BJP candidate Suvendu Adhikari arrived at the booth two hours later and accused her mentor-turned-rival of “delaying” the electoral process after realizing that she would lose the electoral battle. “She was trying to get the police to vote. She has lost contact with the people. I’m on a motorcycle, closer to the ground. I get better comments. This vote is against appeasement,” he said.
Bengal’s electoral director Ariz Aftab said reinforcements had been dispatched to Boyal’s booth. “We will seek a report from the district administration on the violation of Section 144,” he said.
In Kolkata, Governor Dhankhar said: “I am confident that everyone will act in the right spirit and seriousness for democracy to flourish.”
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