A ‘ballot box’ meant for collecting people’s choice of candidates for the upcoming rural elections was ransacked, and nearly broke, shortly after Trinamool MP Abhishek Banerjee left a venue in north Bengal, on the first day of his 60-day outreach programme, the party has named, Jono Sanjog Yatra.
On Tuesday, Banerjee commenced his two-month yatra from Cooch Behar in north Bengal. The yatra is expected to conclude at Kakdwip in south Bengal and includes over 250 public meetings, and 60 adhiveshans.
The incident occurred at Gosanimari in Sitai, one of the three venues for the day besides Dinhata and Sitalkuchi, in Cooch Behar district.
“Some untoward incident took place in relation to (the) voting post Hon'ble National General Secretary's meeting. Given the excitement of people for new ballot system, the crowd hogged the stage in large numbers in an unorganised manner because of which a chaotic situation took place. A repolling will be called at the same location tomorrow from 10-5 PM,” Kunal Ghosh, Trinamool spokesperson tweeted.
Banerjee, speaking at a venue after the incident, said that some people were overexcited, and asked his party’s regional leaders to ensure that the exercise is carried out again, on Wednesday.
A Trinamool release claimed that the campaign “saw immense success as a sea of supporters arrived at the public meetings and the Adhiveshan programme”.
Banerjee is trying to reach out to the commoners, through the drive before the rural elections take place in the state. He interacted with them – held an infant in his arms, took selfies with youngsters, and sought blessings from the elderly, the party communique mentioned.