On Thursday, Amit Shah gave a stern warning to purported goons of the Mamata Banerjee party before the second round of elections in West Bengal, which will be on April 29. His comments were made after the first round of voting, which had a record-breaking turnout and incidents of violence, which were sporadic.
The initial round of polling in 152 constituencies according to Election Commission, had a turnout of about 92.35 percent by late evening; one of the highest in the state since Independence. Although the voting had been conducted in a very peaceful manner, there were reported clashes in various districts such as Murshidabad, Birbhum, Cooch Behar, and Dakshin Dinajpur. Crude bomb throwing, intimidation and attacks on the candidates of rival parties were also reported leading to heavy deployment of security forces.
In response to the events, Shah alleged that so-called troublemakers linked to the ruling Trinamool Congress mostly showed no interest in going to the streets in the initial stage. He gave a stern warning in a post on X, prior to the next round of voting, saying that any effort to disrupt the democratic process will be met with strictness.
The statement has also added more heat to the political climate in the state where the race is still very heated. As there are still several stages of polling, the authorities are working on the free, fair, and peaceful elections in every constituency.