An election agent of the BJP candidate, Debashish Ojha, in booth number 288 in the Bhramarkol gram panchayat area in Labhpur assembly seat, Biswajit Mondal, suffered a serious head injury during clashes.
Birbhum: An elderly man arrives on a wheelchair to cast his vote during the first phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections at Papuri in Birbhum district on Thursday, April 23, 2026. (Photo: IANS)
An elderly person died due to a heart attack in Birbhum while going to cast his vote as polling concluded in the politically sensitive district of West Bengal on Thursday. Birbhum has been a troublesome district on the polling day in the past, and this time was no different, as several incidents of violence were reported throughout the day.
An election agent of the BJP candidate, Debashish Ojha, in booth number 288 in the Bhramarkol gram panchayat area in Labhpur assembly seat, Biswajit Mondal, suffered a serious head injury during clashes.
Advertisement
Later, police rescued him, and a report was sought by the ECI later in the day. He was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. “The TMC supporters have beaten me with rods and lathis,” he alleged. His car was also vandalized.
Advertisement
In the Khoirasole Block of Dubrajpur assembly in booth number 65 in Budhpur village, locals alleged that the EVM machine was defunct for a long time, and agitated TMC supporters beat the police and central forces on duty by hurling stones and bricks. Two to four state police and CAPF jawans were injured.
The incident prompted police personnel to bring out their weapons and threaten to open fire at the mob if they came forward. Voting was stopped in this booth for a brief period. Later, more central forces arrived, and polling was resumed.
Forty-three TMC leaders of Birbhum district were under observation of police today, though the name of Anubrata Mondal was not in this list. Kesto Mondal went to cast his vote with daughter, Sukanya Mondal, in Bolpur and remained inside the Bolpur TMC party office throughout the day.
In Veramari village in Illambazar booth number 145, a man tried to enter the polling booth and snatch the EVM machine, but was denied by the forces there. Central forces overpowered him and handed him over to the Illambazar Police.
Local TMC leader Hafizul Sheikh has alleged that the central forces threatened the ordinary voters and complained about the excessive strictness applied at the booth. In Labhpur, there were also some reports of clashes between the TMC and the BJP in a few booths.
Jaganath Chattopadhaya, the BJP candidate of Siuri, has thanked the people for casting their votes and said that central forces had done their duty in this election.
Advertisement
