West Bengal, 01 April (H.S.): Kolkata witnessed renewed tension outside the State Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) office on Wednesday afternoon, as supporters of SUCI staged a protest near the premises. The situation escalated when CEO Manoj Agarwal arrived at the office and was met with slogan-shouting by Trinamool Congress-backed Booth Level Officers (BLOs) present at the spot.
The protest led to severe traffic congestion along Strand Road, bringing vehicular movement to a standstill. Buses travelling from Babughat to Howrah were forced to halt midway, leaving many commuters with no option but to walk to their destinations.
The unrest follows a similar incident on Tuesday afternoon, when several Trinamool-backed BLOs gathered outside the newly set-up CEO office. They alleged that certain individuals had arrived carrying bags filled with Form 6—used for applying inclusion of names in the electoral roll—to submit at the office. Protesting over this issue, they began demonstrating outside the premises.
Soon after, BJP workers reached the spot, triggering a face-off between the two groups, with both sides raising slogans against each other. Police struggled to control the situation and had to deploy barricades to separate the groups. Central forces were also present to assist in maintaining order.
Although the situation appeared relatively calm on Wednesday morning with heavy police and central force deployment, tensions resurfaced as the day progressed, with Trinamool-backed BLOs and SUCI supporters once again assembling and staging protests outside the CEO office.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Priyanka Pandey
