BJP in Bengal demands central forces at all booths

Kolkata, May 9 (IANS) A BJP delegation approached the Election Commission (EC) on Thursday seeking 100 per cent coverage by central forces of polling booths in West Bengal's constituencies which are set to vote in the sixth phase on Sunday.

"In view of violence in the last few phases of the Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal, we demand that 100 per cent booths should be covered and protected by the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF)," the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said in its complaint to the EC.

State BJP Vice President Jayprakash Majumdar and members of the coordination cell met Chief Electoral Officer Ariz Aftab and argued that "free and fair election cannot be conducted without complete protection of voters and booths".

Also, BJP candidate Soumitra Khan from Bishnupur constituency and another leader Shankudeb Panda (both of them defected to the BJP from the Trinamool Congress) held a sit-in protest outside the CEO office.

Amidst the demand for central forces, Panda, Khan and other party workers were also seen celebrating Rabindranath Tagore's 158th birth anniversary. They garlanded his poster and sang some of Tagore's compositions.