From Eating Ballot Papers To Ballot Box Relay Race: Antics in Bengal Polls
NDTV
The incidents capture the utter chaos that marked the rural polls in Bengal this time
The panchayat elections in West Bengal, though marred by violent clashes between rivals, also featured bizarre acts by candidates desperate to win and unwilling to accept defeat.
A CPM candidate in North 24 Parganas district has alleged that his Trinamool Congress rival ate a bunch of ballot papers once he started trailing. The counting at the booth of Bhurkunda panchayat block was suspended thereafter.
Speaking to local media, CPM's Rabindranath Majumdar claimed that he had won the election by four votes. "They (Trinamool) did not even ask for recounting. Mahadeb Mati (Trinamool's candidate) entered the booth, took a bundle of ballot papers from my box and started chewing them. He also threw some of them around and then left," a shocked Mr Majumdar said.
