14 people died in Bengal Panchayat elections, Mamta government on violence and war of words in opposition

WB Panchayat Elections 2023: Voting for the Panchayat elections took place in West Bengal on Saturday (July 8). During this, violent incidents came to the fore in many districts of the state. Due to which the war of words has also started between the political parties. BJP (BJP) and Congress (Congress) have strongly attacked TMC (TMC) regarding election violence. While the Mamta government has accused the opposition parties of violence.

1. In West Bengal, 14 people have been killed in one day in the violence during the three-tier panchayat elections. Officials said that these include eight members of the ruling party Trinamool Congress, one worker each of Bharatiya Janata Party, Marxist Communist Party, Congress and Indian Secular Front and others.

2. Governor of Bengal CV Anand said that What I saw today is very disturbing. Violence and killings are happening. The poor are being killed. We have to eliminate poverty and it will not happen by killing the poor. This is something that is very disturbing. This is not what Bengal wants. The Governor visited various areas of North 24 Parganas and met the people injured in the violence and also listened to their complaints.

3. Voting began at 7 am in 73,887 seats in rural areas of the state. There were also scenes of theft and burning of ballot boxes during voting, and public anger against political workers. Apart from Murshidabad, Nadia and Cooch Behar districts, there has been more violence in Bhangar of South 24 Parganas and Nandigram of East Medinipur. In Murshidabad, miscreants set a police vehicle on fire.

4. Home Minister Amit Shah also spoke to Bengal BJP President Sukant Majumdar regarding the incidents of violence. He inquired about the violence and the activists. BJP national president JP Nadda also spoke to West Bengal leader of opposition Suvendu Adhikari and BJP’s West Bengal in-charge Mangal Pandey on the violence. He said that BJP will not allow the murder of democracy and we will take this fight to the decisive level in a democratic way. Sukant Majumdar also wrote a letter to the Home Minister regarding action on the violence.

5. Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly Suvendu Adhikari said that Today democracy has completely ended. We demand that wherever there is no CCTV and wherever elections were rigged, re-polling should be conducted. FIR should be lodged against the State Election Commission under 302. So much ammunition came in Bengal, most of the deaths were due to bullets. Who sent all this? Who funded it? These are anti-national forces, so NIA should investigate it.

6. State Election Commissioner Rajeev Sinha has promised to look into the complaints and take a decision on re-polling in violence-hit places after receiving reports from supervisors and returning officers regarding the violence in Panchayat elections. He said that the maximum number of complaints of incidents of violence during polling came from four districts and all these districts would be taken into consideration while reviewing the election process. A decision on the re-polling will be taken on Sunday (July 9) when the Supervisor and Returning Officer will scrutinize and review the polling process.

7. Congress state unit president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary, while taking a sarcasm, congratulated Trinamool Congress supremo and state CM Mamata Banerjee for the victory in the violent panchayat elections. He said that congratulations didi, you (panchayat elections) have won. He sarcastically said that Mamata Banerjee’s injured leg would be fine on July 11, the day of counting of votes, and she would come out of her house and thank the people for making her victorious in the election.

8. Mamta government also retaliated on the allegations of the opposition. TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh claimed that a narrative is being concocted by opposition parties with the help of Governor CV Anand Bose and a section of the media that elections in West Bengal are always violent. There have been some incidents of violence, but if you compare with the previous elections, you will see that there has been a drastic reduction in the incidents of violence and deaths.

9. TMC said in a statement that if Trinamool Congress really instigates violence, why are their workers being targeted and killed? Panchayat elections were held in peaceful circumstances. In more than 60,000 booths across the state, a very small percentage of incidents of violence were recorded. That too has been done by BJP, Congress and CPI, so that Our image in Bengal can be tarnished. The role of central forces at these booths has also come under scrutiny. There was a huge turnout at most of the booths and people participated enthusiastically, showcasing the true spirit of democracy.

10. The Marxist Communist Party accused the State Election Commission of creating a farce in the name of conducting panchayat elections. The CPI(M) held TMC responsible for the 12 deaths during polling. Sujan Chakraborty, a member of the Central Committee of the CPI(M), also alleged loot during the polling. Chakraborty said that the State Election Commission has created a farce in the name of conducting elections. He claimed that the violence took place at the behest of TMC workers.

(also input from PTI)

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