The 2024 Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal concluded with a final round of voting on June 1, 2024. However, post-election violence persisted in the state, with reports of BJP workers being injured in attacks ranging from Sandeshkhali to Kolkata.
In Sandeshkhali, which has been a hotbed of violence since January 2024, a confrontation between the police and women protesters occurred once again. The police took action against women protesting the arrest of an individual, using force against them.
Amit Malviya, the head of the BJP IT cell, shared a video of the incident, claiming that TMC workers threatened to make everyone widows after June 4. He accused the West Bengal police of colluding with TMC goons to intimidate women.
Violence was also reported on the day of the election in Sandeshkhali, with the police firing tear gas shells and a BJP worker suffering a head injury during the attacks. Reports of violence came in from other Lok Sabha constituencies as well. Section 144 has been imposed in Sandeshkhali.
After polling day, there is renewed attempt to intimidate the people of #Sandeshkhali.
These are visuals from Booth no 35, Sarberia, Sardeshkhali.
WB Police along with TMC goons are threatening people. They said, post 4th June, they will make all the women widows. BJP… pic.twitter.com/uHUYVP6Sq1
— Amit Malviya (मोदी का परिवार) (@amitmalviya) June 2, 2024
West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose has urged the state government to take action against the violence, expressing concern over attacks on women after the voting. He hinted that if the attacks continue, he would consider opening the doors of the Raj Bhavan.
If you want to raise your hands on me, then do so
You should be ashamed that you are slaves of the CM
The CM has bought you to stop voting
-BJP candidate from Basirhat Rekha Patra confronts Bengal police pic.twitter.com/zVsjROb710
— Organiser Weekly (@eOrganiser) June 1, 2024
Media reports indicated that in Kolkata, a BJP polling agent was severely beaten by TMC workers. Ramesh Saw, a BJP polling agent for Kolkata North Central candidate Tapas Roy, claimed that after the election, TMC goons abducted and beat him severely, with his head also being injured and tortured.
In Naihati, a bomb was placed outside a BJP worker’s house, an act attributed to TMC members. In Nadia, an unofficial curfew was imposed, and a BJP worker, Hafizul Sheikh, was shot, with reports suggesting that his head was severed. The police are investigating the matter.
Due to the anticipated post-election violence in West Bengal, the Election Commission has decided not to withdraw the central security forces for 15 days after the results.
On June 1, during the 7th Phase of Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal, a BJP worker named Hafizul Sheikh was brutally murdered by a mob of 10-11 Trinamool Congress (TMC) goons in Chandpur village, Nadia district. Sheikh, who had recently joined the BJP, was shot and then beheaded by the assailants.
#PollViolenceInBengal | Trinamool miscreants launched a horrific attack on the BJP party office in Baranagar
They threw BJP workers out of the party office, beat them on the ground, cracked one person’s head open, locked him up, and left him to die pic.twitter.com/IKwKwQGJwr
— Organiser Weekly (@eOrganiser) June 1, 2024
Visuals of the incident showed Sheikh’s beheaded body lying unattended on the side of the road. His brother recounted the incident, stating that an influential politician from the Chandpur village, belonging to the TMC, and his accomplices came and shot Sheikh twice.
#PollViolenceInBengal | TMC goons attack BJP workers in the Golabari Ithkhola area of Jaynagar
TMC goons also attacked with bamboo sticks and batons to obstruct voters from casting their votes
Several people sustained head injuries pic.twitter.com/XWnIR4wTwc
— Organiser Weekly (@eOrganiser) June 1, 2024
Amidst the violence, a journalist associated with news agency ANI, Bunty Mukherjee, suffered a severe head injury in a stone-pelting incident in the Canning area, under the Jaynagar Lok Sabha constituency. The incident occurred during clashes between TMC and BJP workers, and Mukherjee was taken to Medica Superspecialty Hospital in Kolkata for treatment.
ANI took to X to share details of the incident, stating, “A stringer associated with ANI, Bunty Mukherjee suffered a severe head injury when a stone pelting occurred in a clash between TMC and BJP workers in Canning, under Jaynagar Lok Sabha constituency of West Bengal. The stringer was covering the last phase of Lok Sabha Elections 2024 today. He has been referred to Medica Superspecialty Hospital in Kolkata for treatment.”
Violence erupted in several parts of West Bengal as nine constituencies voted in the final phase of the Lok Sabha elections. Incidents of violence were reported in all seven phases, marring the polling process in the state. In the South Paraganas, a mob threw EVM and VVPAT machines into a pond, causing hindrance for the polling and security officials.
In Bhangar, Jadavpur constituency, a clash broke out between supporters of the TMC and the Indian Secular Front (ISF), leading to the hurling of crude bombs at each other. Both parties protested and raised allegations against each other, forcing the Police to resort to lathi charges to disperse the mob and bring the situation under control. The Police also recovered some crude bombs from the area.
#PollViolence in #WestBengal |
Tensions broke out in the Jadhavpur constituency when reports of bombings surfaced in the Bhangar area, and Sandeshkhali
The BJP has accused authorities of threatening women booth workers and the public
Video 1: Sandeshkhali
Video 2: Bhangar pic.twitter.com/CWREv9DTsw— Organiser Weekly (@eOrganiser) June 1, 2024
In another incident in South Paraganas, an angry mob threw an Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) and VVPAT machine into a pond. It is alleged that some polling agents were not allowed to sit in the polling booth, which led to the mob snatching the EVM and VVPAT machines and throwing them into the pond.
