Clash shameful, say Cong leaders

KOLKATA: The counting for the Youth Congress election started peacefully on Monday, but the tension grew steadily. A roar would greet the declaration of result for every district committee. As the contest grew tighter, the atmosphere turned charged.
Mausam Noor stayed away, but Arindam Bhattacharya waited anxiously. “It’s already late and we want the results now,” his supporters shouted as the clock ticked close to 6pm.
Around 6.20pm, Mausam was declared winner by 161 votes.The margin was a fairly clear one, but Bhattacharya’s supporters refused to accept the result. They climbed on the dais, where the counting had been held, pulled down the table and started hurling chairs at their rival supporters. They alleged that they had been deliberately kept out of the hall and that the ballot papers were “smuggled to the rear of the counting centre”.
Within seconds of the results being announced, hundreds of men rushed in with sticks and went on the rampage. Mausam, who had just been garlanded by her followers, was whisked away in a vehicle, Bhattacharya, too, went away as chaos broke loose at Nazrul Mancha.
The clash shocked Congress leaders, too, Calling the incident “shameful”, Congress leaders hailed the election of Mausam Noor. While Pradesh Congress president Manas Bhuniya congratulated the young MP, spokesperson Sukhendu Shekhar Ray described her as the “bright, new hope for the Congress”.