National

Mamata fears rigging of panchayat polls

Kolkata May 10 . The Trinamool Congress chief, Mamata Banerjee, on the eve of the panchayat elections in West Bengal today alleged that polling would not be free and fair ``since the CPI (M) has completed all arrangements to ensure a convincing win by unfair means, including rigging''.

Asking the Centre to keep its monitoring machinery open, Ms. Banerjee claimed before reporters that Marxist workers had cut off road communication and snapped telephone links in interior areas with "the motive of rigging the polls".

``Is it not a crime to disrupt road and communication infrastructure to stop anti-CPI(M) votes being cast?'' Ms. Banerjee said.

Claiming that the CPI(M) had unleashed "a fresh reign of terror", she alleged that the party had gone to the extent of taking the help of militants from Bangladesh and Bhutan in rigging and other unfair tactics. ``It is a question of constitutional crisis.''

— PTI

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