Life partially affected in Bengal due to BJP strike
Kolkata, June 3: Life on Sunday was partially affected in West Bengal's Purulia district due to a 12-hour strike called by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after two of their party workers were allegedly murdered within a span of three days.
The body of 32-year-old Dulal Kumar was found hanging from a high-tension tower in Dabha village on Saturday morning.
Claiming that the victim was a prominent party worker, the BJP accused the ruling Trinamool Congress for the murder and sought a CBI probe into it.
Another body of a 20-year-old BJP worker named Trilochan Mahato was also found hanging from a tree in Balarampur arear of the same district last week with a message inscribed on the back of his T-shirt, accusing him of supporting the BJP.
The Trinamool has, however, denied its involvement in either of the incidents. The state government has handed over the probe to the Criminal Investigation Department.
"Law and order situation has been under control. The strike has affected the life partially," a police official of Balrampur police station said.
Most shops remained shut. Private transports were not seen on the roads while state-owned transports were spotted running on the roads.
Twin killings caused tension in the Balrampur area and also in the district and the West Bengal BJP had held demonstrations protesting against the killing of their youth activists.
The BJP also demanded imposition of President's rule in the state, as party chief Amit Shah alleged that the Mamata Banerjee government had completely failed to maintain law and order.
Purulia S.P. Joy Biswas on Saturday claimed that preliminary investigation suggested the death of Kumar was a case of suicide.
Following this statement, Biswas was transferred by the Mamata Banerjee government to the post of Commanding Officer of State Armed Police 9th Battalion and Akash Magharia was given charge as Purulia SP.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
