Kolkata: Two heavyweight candidates — one a central and the other a state minister — from the Tollygunge constituency presented a picture in contrast on the polling day on Saturday. While BJP’s Babul Supriyo chose to hit the turf — challenging “fake women voters” and even “punishing’ one of them by asking her to apologize in front of a dozen cameras — Trinamool’s Aroop Biswas mostly stayed put with his close aides, rarely answering to calls and appearing in public, choosing to marshal his troops from his residence at New Alipore and his office.
Babul, who set out early in the morning from The Tollygunge Club in his SUV, chose to stay close to Golf Green and Bijoygarh before moving towards Garia. It was a call from a polling agent at the Niva Ananda Vidyalaya close to Battala Bazar in Bansdroni that made him rush there around 10.15am. “I was told that an elderly woman was trying to cast a fake vote. When my agent objected, Trinamool polling agents and supporters brought him out of the room and threatened to kidnap his son. I have come here to pacify him,” he said.