Kolkata Uttar Parliamentary Constituency Elections Void, EC Orders Re-poll

Owing to violence and alleged rigging by the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal polls, the Election Commission declared re-polls in the Kolkata Uttar Parliamentary Constituency.

New Delhi: The polls conducted at polling station number 200 of the Kolkata Uttar (North) parliamentary constituency have been declared null and void by the Election Commission (EC) on Tuesday. Re-polling will be held on May 22 from 7 am to 6 pm.  Kolkata Uttar (North) parliamentary constituency went to polls on May 19, the last phase of the Lok Sabha elections.

Election Commission: Poll held on 19th May at polling station number 200 of the Kolkata Uttar parliamentary constituency declared void. Re-poll to be held on 22nd May from 7am to 6pm. #WestBengal pic.twitter.com/GbEyswN73z

— ANI (@ANI) May 21, 2019

The re-poll has been announced after allegations of rigging and technical malfunctions at the polling booth on the state party Trinamool Congress (TMC) after a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) delegation led by Defence minister Nirmala Sitharam and Railway minister Piyush Goyal held a meeting with the EC demanding action against fraudulent activity at the polling booth.

The stations were also marred with violence during the final two phases of elections where the BJP and TMC blamed each other for the chaos. The BJP’s Rahul Sinha, TMC’s Sudip Bandhopadhyay and Kaninika Bose Ghosh form the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) are battling from the Uttar Constituency.

The CPM has also accused the TMC of rigging at several booths, including Dum Dum, Diamond Harbour, Kolkata Uttar and Jadavpur. The TMC has been accused of rigging polls several times before in 2016 Assembly Elections as well as 2014 Lok Sabha Elections.