Kolkata, April 2 -- As the West Bengal Assembly polls near, the political temperature in the state has significantly risen, as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) accuse each other of manipulating the election process.

As Union Home Minister Amit Shah reached West Bengal for election campaigning today, he called on people to vote fearlessly and remove the Trinamool Congress from power and "throw TMC in Bay of Bengal". Meanwhile, TMC has accused the BJP of trying to incite violence in the state in order to impose President's rule ahead of the polls, with Chief Minister Banerjee claiming that the Malda "hostage" incident was orchestrated by the BJP.

Speaking at the nomination filing event of senior BJP leader...