2019 LS polls | Attack on Bharati Ghosh 'an act of frustration' by TMC: BJP

Ghosh was allegedly attacked twice when the former IPS officer tried to visit polling stations in the Ghatal Lok Sabha constituency as the sixth phase of polling was under way.

Bharati Ghosh

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday termed the attack on its candidate Bharati Ghosh an "act of frustration" by the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, and said it has complained to the Election Commission for action in the matter. Ghosh was allegedly attacked twice when the former IPS officer tried to visit polling stations in the Ghatal Lok Sabha constituency as the sixth phase of polling was under way. BJP leader and Union minister Prakash Javadekar led a delegation of his party to the EC over the alleged incidents of violence in the constituency in West Bengal on Sunday. Officials said in Kolkata that Ghosh suffered minor injuries when a group of women allegedly attacked her as she tried to take a BJP agent inside a polling booth in Keshpur. One of her security guards was injured when locals pelted stones at another booth. "It clearly shows the sheer desperation by Mamata Banerjee and her party TMC," Javadekar said at a press conference here. "Stones were pelted on her car and she was also injured. Instead of taking action against the goons, Ghosh's movements have been restricted and her car, which was vandalised, has been seized by the local administration. This is unacceptable. The TMC goons are engaged in unabated violence against the BJP. This is an act of frustration," he said. In a memorandum to the EC, the BJP has demanded immediate action against those indulging in violence in Bengal and said if needed repolling should be ordered wherever violence has taken place. BJP media cell head Anil Baluni alleged that TMC workers are indulging in violence and are beating up BJP workers, while elections all over the country have been peaceful and fair. Ghosh was on Sunday attacked and beaten up by TMC goons, and the EC should take immediate action, he said. The BJP has also demanded videography of all polling stations and said central forces should be deployed 100 metres from booths and not inside them. The state CEO has sought reports from the West Midnapore district magistrate about the incidents of violence in Ghatal. Javadekar claimed that in the Jhargram Lok Sabha constituency of Bengal, the body of a BJP booth president has been found. Demanding that poll observers ensure proper deployment of central forces for smooth voting, the Union minister said, "Mamata says there is an expiry date for the prime minister. But the way they are conducting elections, the amount of frustration, and with the imminent defeat of the TMC, there is an expiry date of the Mamata government." Javadekar also attacked the Congress government in Rajasthan, alleging the law and order in the state has failed, and demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. "We condemn the incident of rape of a Dalit woman recently and other cases of violence," he said. On April 26, the woman was allegedly raped in front of her husband in Alwar. Her husband has claimed that he had approached the Rajasthan Police on April 30 but police officials did not act quickly because of elections and eventually filed an FIR on May 7. Rajasthan voted in two phases on April 29 and May 6.Javadekar alleged that in the last four months of the Congress government in Rajasthan, "46 cases of rape have occurred and 27 cases of atrocities against Dalits, rape or otherwise." "We, therefore, demand resignation of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot," he told reporters. Javadekar also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi "did not reveal anything he was not supposed to reveal" on the Balakot air strike during an interview with a news channel. The opposition has alleged that the prime minister divulged sensitive details of the operation against terrorists inside Pakistan.