Super sensitive polling booths

SNS, Siliguri, 13 April 2014: The Trinamul Congress wants all polling booths in Darjeeling Hills to be declared as ‘super sensitive.’ The party has already served a letter to the election commission in this regard.

“All the polling booths are super sensitive in the Hills. We have written to the election commission in this regard. When the election commission has taken pro-active measures to conduct free and fair polls in the state, we want the commission to take such measures in this regard too,” north Bengal development minister Gautam Deb told reporters here today.

There are 868 booths in the Hills.

“We have given to the EC names of booths in places that include Takvar, Pedong and Kagey,” Mr Deb said.He alleged that Gorkha Jan Maukti Morcha (GJMM) cadres yesterday torched a Trinamul party election office at Kholachand Fafri. The GJMM, however, ruled out the allegation.

“The GJMM set the Trinamul election office on fire yesterday and we have asked our party men to lodge an FIR. Recently, three vehicles which were carrying our party workers were attacked by the party.

This apart, both the BJP and the GJMM are using black money in the election. We are tackling the GJMM threat politically and democratically,” Mr Deb said.

Asked to comment on the allegations, GJMM assistant secretary Binay Tamang said they also want all the booths in the state be categorised as ‘super sensitive.’

“We too want free and fair elections, and all the polling booths in the state should be marked as super sensitive,” Mr Tamang said.“The allegation that we are using black money is baseless. How can a party like ours have black money? And no GJMM activist was involved in burning down any political parties’ office or tearing flags and festoons,” he added.