Kolkata:
Last Saturday, 70 per cent voters turned out at civic polls in Salt Lake, an upscale Kolkata township. But today, at re-polls, only 30 per cent turned up to vote. Re-polls were held at nine booths only out of 438 after allegations that the Trinamool Congress had rigged the polls with outsiders.
After protests by the Trinamool, the poll commissioner had quit. An interim poll commissioner was named but his appointment was challenged at Calcutta High Court. Late this evening, the court said the poll process could continue but it would pass its verdict on November 23 and that would be final.
Counting will be held tomorrow for all civic polls held on October 3, in Salt Lake, Asansol and Bally.
At Salt Lake, which had seen widespread trouble on poll day, one of the people who did come out to vote was 68-year-old Priti Kumar Sen of AB block who had been manhandled and pushed around last Saturday.
"Today the polls are peaceful. I have cast my vote again. But what happened last Saturday is still shocking. Outsiders came and ruined the atmosphere," he said.
Gautam Ghosh, a resident of BD block where bombs had been hurled on polling day, said, "Last time we gave our vote, came out and there were bomb blasts. But what is happening today is a farce. Only 25 to 30 votes since the morning."
When asked why did the voters stay away, if they boycotted the re-polls, just as the opposition parties have, a young voter Shreya Ladia said, "Boycott is too political. But there is a fear factor."
The Opposition boycotted today's vote to protest re-polls in just nine booths out of 438 in Salt Lake. A farce, they said. The voters' silence could be a vote of no-confidence.