THE third phase of voting in West Bengal exposed the true face of the ruling party as hundreds of booths were captured in nine parliamentary constituencies that went to polls on April 30. In the third phase, Trinamool Congress had high stakes as they faced Left Front as the main opposition. Voting took place in one of the most terrorised areas of the state. In panchayat elections, the districts of Burdwan, Birbhum, Hooghly, Howrah witnessed unbridled terror of the ruling party and hundreds of seats were ‘won’ by them ‘uncontested’. This area also experienced murders and incessant attacks on villages. The Election Commission assured that these will not be repeated in the parliamentary elections. On the day of voting, there was hardly any presence of the Election Commission’s vigil and the hoodlums of the ruling party had a free run, converting the elections into a farce. Worst affected were two constituencies of Arambagh and Bolpur. In Arambagh, CPI(M) agents were not allowed to sit in majority of the booths. Villagers were threatened with dire consequences if they dare out to vote. And in some parts of the constituency, there was practically no voting after 10 am. In Bolpur, altogether 400 booths were captured in five assembly segments. This constituency has already become infamous for open threats by Anubrata Mondal, TMC district president. TMC armed gangs roamed around in Nanur, Bolpur, Mangalkot, Ketugram and chased away CPI(M) polling agents, and then captured booths. The presence of central forces was minimal, that too in town roads while the mayhem occurred in villages. EC observers even refused to listen to complaints from CPI(M) candidate Ramchandra Dom and the district police remained mute. In Bardhaman-Durgapur constituency, more than 200 booths were fully captured. In the morning itself CPI(M) candidate Saidul Haque staged a sit-in in front of district magistrate’s office but no action was taken to prevent booth capturing. Even the most disturbed areas did not see any para military forces. In Bardhaman town itself, gangs of ruling party were posted in roads and they chased away voters in many localities. In Galsi, armed gangs attacked CPI(M) camps and threw bombs injuring many. In Bardhaman East, more than 200 booths were captured. In Memari, Raina, Purbasthali and Jamalpur, people had to fight for voting. Thousands of voters had to fight pitched battles with the armed gangs to reach to polling booths while police and security forces were invisible. In Uluberia, more than a hundred booths were made inaccessible to voters. In two booths, voting was complete with 100 per cent polling before 10am. In many areas, armed gangs attacked with swords and sharp weapons injuring Left workers. In Howrah, assembly segments of North Howrah and Bully witnessed terrorisation. TMC bike gang moved in the areas in the night before the polling day and knocked at possible CPI(M) polling agents’ houses, threatening their families. Opposition agents were not allowed to enter the booths. In Srirampur, booth capturing was reported from Uttarpara, Jangipara and Chapdani areas. Several CPI(M) agents were injured when they resisted. Congress candidate was forced to sit in a dharna in protest of widespread attack. Left Front chairman Biman Basu termed the elections as ‘worst possible’ and alleged that the Election Commission has failed to do their duties. Despite this atmosphere, thousands of voters turned up to vote and showed resilience in exercising their rights. In many areas in Durgapur, Katwa, Kalna, Uluberia incidents of voters’ resistance to rigging were reported. CPI (M) leader Rabin Deb met the chief election officer and special observer in Kolkata and submitted detailed complaints. In Delhi, Sitaram Yechury and S Ramachandran Pillai met the chief election commissioner of India to lodge complaint and submitted detailed incidents of violation of constitutional rights of the people. Surjya Kanta Mishra, leader of the opposition, while addressing the media in the evening congratulated the people of Bengal for their high turnout in defiance of the widespread violence perpetrated by the ruling party. Mishra informed that more than 35 people have been injured. Five people have been injured in bomb blasts. For all practical purposes, the elections did not take place in Arambagh constituency. In the remaining eight constituencies, of the 15,277 booths, the Left Front has demanded re-polling in 826, while the actual perversion of free voting took place in a larger number of booths. Mishra told that the main points of disappointment with the Election Commission were regarding the insufficient deployment and utilisation of central forces, the obvious dearth and technical deficiencies of micro-observers, video-recording and web casting. The webcams installed at remote and risk prone areas failed because of problems with connectivity. There was a distinctive slackening in the role of the Election Commission between the first two phases and the third phase. He appealed to the Election Commission to enhance its security measures, to the people of the state to be more watchful, and to the Party workers and supporters to be more vigilant in the remaining few phases of the polls.