NEW DELHI: The three-tier West Bengal panchayat elections concluded on a bloody note on Saturday with 12 persons reported killed, many injured, several ballot boxes stolen and bombs exploding at various places.
Elections for 73,887 seats, including zila parishads, gram panchayats and panchayat samitis, commenced at 7 am today across 61,636 booths and progressed amid reports of violence and bloodshed from across the state, mainly Cooch Behar, Murshidabad, Nadia and places in South 24 Parganas.
In Cooch Behar, BJP’s polling agent Madhab Biswas was killed during a scuffle while entering a polling booth.
Of the 12 killed, eight were from the TMC, one worker each from the BJP, the CPM, the Congress and the ISF. The violent rural elections led to the BJP demanding the imposition of President’s rule in Bengal and accusing the state government of robbing Bengal of its global identity as a hub of culture and awakening. “Bengal, once known for its culture, literature and knowledge, has today emerged as an example of crime, dangerous appeasement, anti-national activities and use of violence as a political tool,” BJP spokesperson Sudhanshi Trivedi said.
Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP called for President’s rule.
“A free-and-fair election under the state administration is a mirage. It is only possible if elections are held under President’s rule or Article 355,” Adhikari said with the opposition BJP, CPM and the Congress uniting to accuse Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-led TMC of perpetrating mass violence, a charge the ruling party dismissed.
“Why would TMC workers be killed if the party was perpetrating the violence? The Opposition has conceded defeat and is trying to twist the narrative now,” a ruling party statement said even as Congress’ Kaustav Bagchi urged the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court for an urgent hearing on a petition to declare the rural polls null and void.
Speaking in Murshidabad’s Berhampore, West Bengal Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury taunted the CM saying, “Congrats Didi, you have won the panchayat elections.”
The Congress leader levelled serious allegations of poll fraud against the TMC.
CPM’s central committee member Sujan Chakraborty slammed the State Election Commission for failing to conduct free elections.
In a statement in Delhi, Sudhanshu Trivedi slammed the TMC saying Bengal was today witnessing what Bihar witnessed in the 1990s. The hotly contested panchayat elections are being viewed as an important marker ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
In the 2019 elections, the BJP had stunned the TMC by bagging 17 of the 42 seats.