Voting in the civic elections in seven municipalities, including Darjeeling Hills, in West Bengal was held on Sunday, ANI reported. Ahead of the elections, Opposition parties had alleged that the ruling Trinamool Congress was using “strong arm tactics” to manipulate the polls and demanded free and fair elections.

The seven municipalities of Darjeeling, Kurseong, Kalimpong and the Mirik Notified Area Authority in the Hills, besides Domkal in Murshidabad, Pujali in South 24 Parganas and Raiganj in North Dinajpur, will vote to select their representatives. In Darjeeling, voters will choose between the TMC and Gorkha National Liberation Front alliance and the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance.

Voting in Pujali was disrupted after bombs were hurled at a polling booth. An Electronic Voting Machine was broken in the incident. Rapid Action Force personnel have been deployed at the spot.

Cadres of the ruling party was were also accused of rigging booths and disrupting the electoral process in Domkal. As a mark of protest, West Bengal Congress President Adhir Chowdhury asked the 10 party candidates contesting the polls in Domkal to withdraw from the fray. He also alleged that booth managers of the Congress were forced to leave their seats by TMC goons.

Raiganj in North Dinajpur also reported violence. State Congress General Secretary Om Prakash Mishra spoke to The Hindu and said, “The way the election is being conducted in Domkal, Pujali and Raiganj is illegal and unconstitutional.” However, he did not say if the Congress would seek a re-poll.

Darjeeling Hills has been the bastion of the GJM for the past 10 years. “TMC is trying to undermine the cause of Gorkhaland that we have been fighting for,” GJM chief Bimal Gurung had said during the election, according to NDTV. “TMC has been spreading lies and canards about GJM that we have done nothing for the development of the hills. The divisive politics of TMC will not work in the Hills.”

Trinamool, however, has denied the claims. “The allegations are completely baseless. The fact is GJM has been running a dictatorship in the Hills, and the people have started revolting against it,” TMC Minister Aroop Biswas said. “The people in the Hills have accepted Mamata Banerjee as their undisputed leader, and that is why, GJM is levelling those wild allegations,” PTI reported.