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Tension gripped the Balurghat Lok Sabha constituency of North Bengal during the ongoing polling for the second phase on Friday, as BJP candidate and state president Sukanta Majumdar fell into an altercation with a group of ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers.
Majumdar came face-to-face with the TMC workers outside a polling station in Balurghat and confronted them as they directed 'Go back' chants at him. Three more Bengal seats--Raigunj, Balurghat and Darjeeling, are polling in Phase 2. Earlier, on Friday, Majumdar cast his vote at polling station number 48 at Municipality Community Hall in Balurghat. He arrived to get his finger inked early, accompanied by his wife. Flashing his inked finger to media persons milling outside the polling station, the BJP state chief urged people to partake in the celebration of democracy and poll in record numbers. "We have cast our votes, enlisting our participation in this festival of democracy. I urge people to come out in record numbers and join in this celebration of democracy. I call on everyone to vote with enthusiasm and elect the new leader of the country," Majumdar said, flanked by his wife. On what were his expectations with regard to the electoral outcome in Balurghat and elsewhere in Bengal, Majumdar said, "The BJP will win." The BJP state chief is pitted against Biplab Mitra of the TMC in the battle for Balurghat. In Darjeeling, the BJP has put sitting MP Raju Bista again on the ticket. However, he faces a formidable rival in the TMC's Gopal Lama, a former bureaucrat, and the Congress' Munish Tamang, who has the support of the local Hamro Party, in his bid to win a fresh term in the Lok Sabha. In, Raiganj, the ruling party in the state has fielded Krishna Kalyani against the BJP's Kartick Pal and the Congress' Ali Imran Ramz. The three North Bengal constituencies recorded a brisk voter turnout of 15.68 per cent until 9 am, according to data shared by the Election Commission. Voting for the second phase began at 7 am on Friday in 88 constituencies across 13 states and Union Territories (UTs). Polling for the remaining constituencies in Bengal will be held on May 4, May 13, May 20, May 25, and June 1. The Lok Sabha elections, being held in seven phases are set to end on June 1 and the counting of votes has been scheduled for June 4. (ANI)
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