Raiganj, Nov. 15: Jubilant leaders and supporters of Trinamul today burst crackers and used loudspeakers for 40 minutes in front of the Chakulia block primary health centre to celebrate a local election victory, inconveniencing patients at the facility.
The official ban on crackers near health facilities was flouted with impunity as was the restriction on loudspeakers in a 100m radius of hospitals.
Though the health department has condemned the incident, it has lodged no complaint against anyone. District magistrate Ayesha Rani has asked block administration officials to visit the spot.
Local Forward Bloc MLA, Imran Ali Ramz, criticised the role of the police who were reportedly around when the crackers were burst by Trinamul processionists around 2pm today.
Trinamul was celebrating its taking over of the panchayat samiti, 70km from Raiganj town.
According to sources in the district administration, in the 32-member Chakulia panchayat samiti, the Congress had won 16, the CPM nine and the Forward Bloc seven seats in the last rural polls. Trinamul did not win a single seat.
Later on, 14 Congress members, six from the CPM and two from the Bloc switched to Trinamul.
Trinamul took over the samiti in October but had kept on hold the victory celebrations because of Durga Puja holidays. The Left had been running the body since 1978.
Today around noon, about 2,000 Trinamul supporters and leaders, on foot and on motorbikes, marched out of the party office in Chakulia Bazar with four loudspeakers blaring.
They reached the ground in front of the health centre around 2pm. There the Trinamul Chakulia block president, Abdul Ghani, delivered a speech amplified by the loudspeakers on the van. After that, for over 40 minutes, slogans were shouted over the loudspeakers and crackers burst.
Ghani said his party supporters were overcome with joy, having dislodged the Left after such a long time. "It was wrong to burst crackers and use loudspeakers in front of the health centre. We regret the incident," he said.
"The patients admitted to the hospital shut the windows," a health centre source said.
