The Sunday Guardian has reported that TMC workers have scared voters by spreading rumours that they will be under CCTV surveillance while they vote at the polling booth. Residents across the Bengal constituencies have informed that the TMC workers visited all the houses telling them that their votes would be recorded by the ruling party after the elections are over. This has created fear and confusion among the voters.
Shibshankar Das from the Haridaspur village in the Bongaon constituency also said that Panchayat leaders have issued similar warnings in the village. Das said, “The panchayat leader from TMC, along with 10 to 12 men, came here last week and told us that if we did not vote for the TMC, they would get to know because this time the Election Commission has set up CCTV cameras in all the booths to monitor the polling process. Now the local residents are scared even to go to vote,”. Another voter from the neighbouring Basirhat constituency mentioned the local TMC leaders threatened the villagers to vote for TMC as the VVPATs would record all the votes which would later be checked by TMC workers.
There are similar incidents recorded from different constituencies in Bengal. The local Bharatiya Janata Party units that are not being able to reach these villagers by visiting each house for campaigns due to intimidation and threats, are using social media to debunk these false claims by the TMC.
West Bengal has reported numerous cases of poll violence and booth rigging. TMC leaders have now started spreading rumours about the poll booths being under the surveillance of CCTVs. This is not just fake news propagation but also puts the credibility of the Election Commission under jeopardy. Stopping other leaders from campaigning, not allowing Hindu voters to vote in Raiganj, and now spreading fear and confusion among the voters, TMC has left no stone unturned in projecting itself as an electoral bully in West Bengal.
The ruling government has failed to provide any protection to the polling officials. While the polling officers lost all trust in state security. Nadia Nodal, an officer, went missing a few days ago. The TMC government on various occasions has attacked the democratic framework of the electoral race. It is shameful that the ruling government is doing everything possible to dismantle the integrity of the election process instead of strengthening it further. Mamata Banerjee, who thinks she has prospects of being the Prime Minister, fails miserably in upholding the spirit of a free and fair election.
