Shotgun on poll field, Ahluwalia in war room

ASANSOL: It was 36°C at noon but the political heat was up by a few more notches in Asansol where rivals BJP and Trinamool were engaged in an intense turf war. However, with their respective aims in mind - TMC eyeing to retain the seat that they won through a bypoll two years ago and the BJP determined to wrest it back - both sides showed contrasting strategy.
Despite winning comfortably by 3 lakh votes in 2022, sitting Trinamool MP Shatrughan Sinha left little to chance to ensure his win. For around three hours, the actor-turned-politician travelled close to 50 km, meeting and greeting his voters. At Idgah High School, he personally enquired if there was any issues the voters were facing while casting their votes. Since early morning, the Trinamool watch teams were led by senior leaders like Moloy Ghatak and district president Narendranath Chakraborty.
In contrast, the "war room" set up by his opponent, SS Ahluwalia, was an intensely tense one. Ahluwalia did not set foot outside his hotel once but marshaled his team of around 25 men from the conference room-turned-war room since morning. He was seen handling five mobile phones. His aides, with eight computers and dozens of phones, collated 37 complaints within the first four hours of the polls. Most complaints pertained to EVMs getting stalled or the Trinamool men not allowing polling agents in certain booths. His aides were seen furiously mailing them to the EC.
Around 11 am, he looked upset after senior BJP functionary and former Asansol mayor Jitendra Tiwari was "detained" at Pandabeswar by police for violating EC conduct. "I do know the law and I am trying to point to you that point of law," Ahluwalia was heard telling the returning officer. Later though, he appeared relaxed. "There were a few attempts at disruptions. But I can read the eyes of my electorate. I can see they have decided to back Narendra Modiji from here," he claimed.
Sinha, on the other hand, dismissed all allegations of rigging and stopping polling agents from entering booths.