Protests, demonstrations and even a roadblock by government employees and others assigned various poll duties on Saturday — when elections are be held in seven Assembly seats of Jalpaiguri — were seen in the district on Friday, allegedly over administrative mismanagement.
Trouble started at Nagrakata in the Dooars where polling personnel, supposed to reach the distribution-cum-collection centre that has been opened on the second campus of the North Bengal University on Jalpaiguri outskirts, could not find vehicles.
Some 250 to 300 government employees waited in front of the BDO office in Nagrakata till 11am, when their patience ran out and they blocked a road in protest, bringing traffic to a standstill in Nagrakata.
“We were instructed to reach the DCRC in Jalpaiguri by 7am, but because of administrative mismanagement, we had to sit idle for over four hours. We don’t know when we can reach our booths,” said Ramesh Chandra Das, a government employee.
The BDO intervened and arranged some vehicles but even till 2pm, some employees could not make it to Jalpaiguri, said a source.
Some 200 vehicle drivers of Cooch Behar, who have been brought at the DCRC here to carry polling teams and security personnel to booths, were also disgruntled saying that though they reached on Thursday they hadn’t been assigned their duties.
“I came here with my vehicle from Dinhata, I spent my own money on fuel, and a whole day passed. Even now, we have not been told as if our vehicles would be engaged. Those managing the DCRC have also not paid us money for food. There is complete chaos. Basics like toilet and drinking water are missing,” said Raj Burman, a driver.
He said at a time Covid cases were on the rise, the administration hadn’t given them masks and sanitisers.
“We are totally clueless about whether we will be asked to take polling teams to booths or return home,” said another driver.
The polling personnel who reached the DCRC also questioned the arrangements. They said one had to walk repeatedly from one end of the campus to another to finish all formalities and collect EVM, VVPAT and other items.
“Those at the registration and inquiry counters lack information…. We have to move to multiple counters for any single information. Vehicles (for our transport) have not been parked according to Assembly constituencies but haphazardly, and we have to move around, searching for the vehicle,” said Arijit Das, a government employee.
In Jalpaiguri district, 18.32 lakh voters will vote in 2,562 booths spread across seven Assembly seats. In all, 11,581 polling personnel have been engaged for the polls. Altogether, 145 companies of the CAPF will be deployed in the district on Saturday, said sources.
