Two winners for single seat, row over results continues

MALDA/PURULIA: Re-polling at Booth No. 79 and 80 in Jalpaiguri’s Ambikanagar was peaceful on Sunday, but controversies continued over the Bengal panchayat polls from North Dinajpur and Malda to Purulia.


In Malda, a block development officer (BDO) issued two winner’s certificates for a single seat to rival Congress and Trinamool Congress candidates, prompting the the State Election Commission (SEC) to order a probe.

In another incident in the same district, a Congress candidate who lost the zilla parishad polls turned up at the BDO office with 40 ballot papers stamped in her favour. In Purulia, a BJP candidate, who won the zilla parishad seat in Raghunathpur on Thursday, was declared defeated by 1,029 votes two days later.

On May 17, after counting ended at 2 pm for the Malda zilla parishad Seat No. 15 in Harishchandrapur, Congress candidate Anisur Rehman was declared winner by 217 votes. Block development officer (BDO)

Krishna Chandra Biswas

handed him the winner’s certificate. Trinamool Congress refused to accept the mandate. The party’s candidate, Hifjur Rahman, forced the BDO to issue him a winner’s certificate later at night. The BDO didn’t turn up for duty the next day. The district administration noticed the anomaly and ordered an inquiry. Sukanta Saha, district panchayat and rural development officer (DPRDO), said: “We sent a team to the block which has extensively checked the ballot papers. They will submit the report to us soon.” The DPRDO, however, hinted that the administration was convinced that the Congress candidate had won this seat. An embarrassed district Trinamool Congress president,

Moyajjem Hossain

, said: “We have asked Hifjur to accept defeat.”

In North Dinajpur, Congress candidate

Shibani Majumder

, who fought and lost the zilla parishad Seat No. 16 from Hemtabad, came to the BDO office with 40 ballot papers stamped in her favour. These ballots, she claimed, were found at the backyard of Hemtabad’s Adarsha Bidyamandir by some school students. The BDO received the complaint, but refused to comment.

In Purulia, recounting in the Raghunathpur zilla parishad seat threw up an unexpected result. Trinamool’s

Anathbandhu Majhi

was declared winner by 1,029 votes.

After Thursday’s counting, Majhi had lost to BJP’s Ganesh Kumar Sing by 530 votes. BJP’s Purulia district president

Bidyasagar Chakraborty

threatened to move the court over it. “We don’t accept this verdict,” he said.

Meanwhile, state panchayat minister Subrata Mukherjee accused the BJP of fuelling communalism in the state and using muscle power.