Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: BJP leader Agnimitra Paul’s car was allegedly vandalised in a stone-pelting incident on Wednesday after she exited a polling booth in Asansol during voting.According to the video, the back of the vehicle was heavily damaged after unidentified persons allegedly hurled stones at her moving car in the Rahmatnagar area of Burnpur. The leader later claimed it was a deliberate attempt to influence the electoral process and said she had filed a complaint at the Hirapur Police Station.Speaking to reporters, she said: “A stone was pelted at my running car as we were coming out of a polling booth in Rahmat Nagar in Asansol. It is very clear who is behind this. This is an effort to influence the election. We have filed a complaint against this.”She claimed that she wasn’t injured, while her secretary sitting at the back sustained minor injuries in the incident.“My car was attacked and vandalised. I had gone to the Rahmat Nagar minority area when a large boulder was thrown onto my car. The entire back of the car was destroyed, and the glass was completely shattered. By God’s grace, neither my security personnel nor I was hurt. However, my secretary, who was sitting at the back, was slightly injured. This cannot be tolerated, as this kind of incident keeps happening. You can easily understand who is behind this and who has good relations with the minority…” Contesting from the Asansol South assembly constituency, Paul also casted her vote during the first phase of polling and expressed confidence in the BJP’s performance, saying she believed voters in West Bengal would support the party.Click here for West Bengal assembly elections live blog updates “We are sure that the people of Bengal will vote for the BJP… They are determined to remove TMC, who is a disgrace to the CM’s chair and voters,” she said while speaking to ANI.Calling the election a ‘war to save Bengal,’ she added that the focus should be on jobs and development rather than divisive politics. “This is a war to save Bengal. We don’t want the politics of Hindu-Muslim. We want employment for the youth and bringing back 40 lakh people, who migrated from here, to come back,” she said. She also launched a sharp attack on chief minister Mamata Banerjee, saying she had ‘failed as a Chief Minister’ and should step down. “You (Mamata Banerjee) are a failure as a Chief Minister, and you must leave the seat,” she said. Among the key contests, the Asansol South assembly constituency is witnessing a high-profile battle, with Agnimitra Paul facing Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate Tapas Banerjee, who is the current MLA from Raniganj and had earlier represented Asansol South from 2011 to 2021.
Paul, who is also the Vice President of the BJP’s West Bengal unit, remains one of the party’s prominent faces in the region. She is seeking to retain her seat in what is expected to be a closely fought contest in the industrial belt.The Asansol Lok Sabha constituency covers Pandabeswar, Raniganj, Jamuria, Asansol South, Asansol North, Kulti and Barabani and is considered politically significant due to its strong presence in West Bengal’s industrial and mining belt.Asansol, part of the Asansol-Durgapur industrial zone, is known for its coal, iron and steel industries, making it one of the most economically important regions in the state.In West Bengal, parties are contesting across 294 Assembly seats. According to the Election Commission, the first phase covers 152 constituencies, while the second phase includes 142 seats, with a total of 1,478 candidates in the fray in this phase.
