Bengal polls: 'Singham' officer on ground as polling underway in South 24 Parganas

Eyewitness accounts claimed Sharma was heard warning potential troublemakers of appropriate treatment if they tried to disrupt polling in the state, and had even landed up at the doorstep of the Falta assembly segments TMC candidate Jahangir Khan, and said authorities would take firm and immediate steps if there were reports of voter intimidation.

Special police observer Ajay Pal Sharma on Wednesday toured West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district, keeping vigil on the polling process during the second phase of Assembly elections, officials said. Sharma, a Uttar Pradesh-cadre IPS officer currently posted as ACP in Prayagraj, had drawn political controversy over his proactive measures in the Diamond Harbour area, considered the stronghold of TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, over the past two days to prevent intimidation and violence. Sharma, who earned the moniker 'Singham' for his crackdown on criminals, faced protests from TMC leaders and workers on Tuesday who accused him of overstepping his role and ''intimidating'' party workers ahead of the polls. Eyewitness accounts claimed Sharma was heard warning potential troublemakers of ''appropriate treatment'' if they tried to disrupt polling in the state, and had even landed up at the doorstep of the Falta assembly segment's TMC candidate Jahangir Khan, and said authorities would take ''firm and immediate steps'' if there were reports of voter intimidation. Notwithstanding the party's political retaliation, which included moving Calcutta High Court against the officer, Sharma was seen coordinating with the armed central forces deployed in the area and leaving for the polling stations where people queued up to exercise their franchise since early morning. In the early hours of the day, Sharma held a 30-minute closed-door meeting with CRPF DGP Gyanendra Pratap Singh, who reached Diamond Harbour to take stock of security arrangements in the politically sensitive region, and other senior officials of the force, before the observer left for his rounds of the constituency. According to a CRPF post on X, the DG, accompanied by senior officers, visited the B/4 company of Adhoc 343 at Diamond Harbour during the second phase of the Bengal polls. ''The DG interacted directly with the troops on duty, taking a firsthand account of the ground situation and reviewing the security apparatus. He also took stock of the logistics for the deployed troops. His visit boosts the morale of our jawans committed to conducting a peaceful and transparent election,'' the force said in the post. No reports of any major untoward incident were received so far from the region, which has been marked as highly sensitive by the Election Commission. BJP's IT cell chief Amit Malviya, however, alleged that in several polling stations in Falta, the option to vote for the BJP was blocked using a tape over EVM poll buttons and demanded repolls in the affected booths. ''This is the so-called 'Diamond Harbour Model', the same template that helped Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee secure his Lok Sabha seat,'' Malviya wrote on X. The party's Bhabanipur candidate, Suvendu Adhikari, said BJP was monitoring the development and would take appropriate steps. ''The Election Commission has also taken cognisance of this. If it works in this manner, then what is required will be done. I will discuss it with the candidate. Just a few minutes back, the home minister, Amit Shah ji, called me. I told him about the Falta incident. This is TMC's technique,'' he said. The TMC, meanwhile, accused the central forces of exercising brute force on the general voters at Falta's Belsingha village, especially women, who were beaten up during a move to disperse crowd from near a polling station. ''In the name of ensuring security, central force jawans are not sparing even women who were brutally lathi-charged. TMC protests this highhandedness of the male jawans who exercised brute force on unarmed villagers. We draw the EC's attention to such illegal actions of the CAPF and ask the poll body to issue cease-and-desist orders against such use of force. We believe, people of Bengal will respond to this on EVMs,'' Anirban Banerjee, party spokesperson, said. Over 61 per cent of the 3.21 crore electors voted till 1 pm of the second phase of polling in West Bengal amid reports of sporadic violence from different pockets. The counting of votes for the two-phase assembly polls in West Bengal will take place on May 4.