- Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has accused CRPF of beating people, not even sparing women and children
- 142 seats in Kolkata and adjoining areas voted in the second phase of Bengal assembly elections today
- Lathicharge has been reported from some polling stations, Trinamool workers have been arrested, Banerjee said
The Central forces are beating up people, not sparing even women and children, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee told NDTV today as 142 seats across Kolkata and adjoining areas vote in the second and last phase of the assembly elections in Bengal.
"So many incidents of lathi-charge have been reported and many workers of the Trinamool Congress have been arrested in violation of court orders," Banerjee told NDTV in an exclusive interview today after casting her vote in Kolkata's Bhabanipur, where she is engaged in a prestige battle with her former aide turned key rival Suvendu Adhikari.
Lathicharge took place outside one of the polling stations in Bhababnipur and the Chief Minister was livid.
"All the booths have been 'captured' by the central forces. Is this their (central forces') duty?" she questioned. "None of the booths are safe... The CRPF cannot torture like this," she said..
#NDTVExclusive | "They are beating people, they aren't even sparing women and children": Mamata Banerjee on lathicharge outside polling booth in Bhabanipur @SreyashiDey pic.twitter.com/fDhHyFb8Vc
— NDTV (@ndtv) April 29, 2026
"Since last night, they have started atrocities. How many of our people have they taken into custody? This is contempt of court. I have never seen such democracy. We will win, Trinamool is winning," she added, pointing out that no state police personnel have been posted at the booth.
Earlier today, Adhikari alleged that he was surrounded and attempted to be attacked by Trinamool Congress supporters during his visit to a polling booth.
The allegations of excessive force came from elsewhere also as multiple clashes were reported from across south Bengal.
The latest round between the the challenger BJP and the ruling Trinamool is widely expected to be a close contest -- an especially tough one in view of the Trinamool's domination of the area.
Voting was stopped in few booths in Diamond Harbour -- the Lok Sabha seat and stronghold of Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee -- after the BJP claimed voting machines had been tampered with by the Trinamool. One of the key areas where this happened was Falta, the area that made headlines over the "Singham" controversy.
A violent clash also erupted in the morning near the polling centre at a primary high school in the Hatra Bazaar area of Nadia district. Polling agents of the BJP and Trinamool also clashed at the Ramchandrapur Adarsha Bidyabhaban polling station in the Khanakul assembly constituency.
Read: Polling Stopped At Few Bengal Booths After BJP Claims EVM Tampering
The Trinamool claimed the BJP was raising false alarm since it is losing in Bengal.
The polling percentage till 3 pm was 78.68 per cent and teh Election Commission expressed confidence that the final figure will be as musch as 93 per cent as seen in the first phase of polling.
In the 2021 elections, the Trinamool Congress had dominated south Bengal, winning 123 of the 142 seats.
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