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BJP candidate from Siliguri assembly constituency Shankar Ghosh accused the Trinamool Congress of levelling false allegations against the Election Commission amid the plea challenging the deployment of only Central government and Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) employees as supervisors for vote counting in the West Bengal Assembly elections.
Speaking to ANI on Friday, Shankar Ghosh attributed the TMC's allegations against the ECI to the party's 'fear of election defeat'. The BJP leader said, "I think the CM is trying to make some kind of narrative. The allegations from TMC show that they are scared of the election defeat. So, they are only trying to mislead the people. I think this kind of statement from the state's ruling party is quite natural, as everybody knows that TMC is going to be removed from power by the people. I think this kind of false allegation will not be able to save their faces, and the Election Commission is doing its best to protect everything." This comes as the Supreme Court on Friday constituted a special bench to hear the TMC's plea against the Calcutta High Court's rejection of its petition challenging the deployment for vote counting. A bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Joymalya Bagchi will hear the plea today. Counting of votes is scheduled for May 4. Meanwhile, today, voters have queued up at 11 booths in Magrahat Paschim and four booths in Diamond Harbour as re-polling began at 7 am. The BJP has welcomed the EC's decision, adding that polling should be taken on more booths of the two assembly segments. On the other hand, TMC blamed the BJP for the incidents that led to the repolling, calling it a devious strategy to "defame" the state. The repolling comes after BJP's West Bengal co-incharge, Amit Malviya, alleged that voters were prevented from choosing the party candidate at several polling booths in Falta under the Diamond Harbour constituency during phase two of the Assembly elections in the State. The BJP has fielded Dipak Kumar Halder against TMC's sitting MLA Panna Lal Halder in Diamond Harbour. They are facing a repeat clash after Panna Lal Halder defeated the BJP candidate in the last elections by a margin of 16,996 (7.6 per cent) votes. In the Magrahat Paschim constituency, TMC's Samim Ahamed Molla is pitted against BJP's Goursundar Ghosh. The seat has been held by the TMC MLA Gias Uddin Molla since its formation in 2011. (ANI)
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