15 dead as violence rocks panchayat polls, Bengal BJP seeks Amit Shah’s intervention

At least 15 people were killed in election-related violence as polling for the West Bengal panchayat elections was held on Saturday.

State Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Sukanta Majumdar wrote to the Union Home Minister seeking intervention in the violence, stating that “democracy in West Bengal has been strangled to death and free and fair elections are beyond imagination”. She also had a conversation with BJP president JP Nadda over a call, wherein he inquired about the violence earlier in the day.

Among those killed were eight Trinamool Congress (TMC) members, three Communist Party of India (Marxist) members and one worker each of the BJP and the Congress. The details of two more deceased are yet to be ascertained.

Three TMC members and a Congress worker were killed in Murshidabad while two (one each from BJP and TMC) died in Cooch Behar. Two CPI(M) workers and a TMC worker were killed in East Burdwan.

One from TMC died in Malda, while another TMC worker lost his life in South 24 Parganas.

Polling began at 7 am on Saturday amid tight security for the West Bengal panchayat elections, in which about 5.67 crore people living in the state’s rural areas are eligible to vote, officials said.

In Murshidabad district, one of the worst affected due to violence, TMC worker Babar Ali was killed in Kapasdanga area. He was declared brought dead when he was brought to Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital in Baharampur.

A TMC worker was killed in a crude bomb blast in Rejinagar in Murshidabad district on Friday. Another Trinamool worker was stabbed to death in Khargram in the district.

Madhav Biswas, a BJP polling agent, was shot dead by unidentified miscreants in Falimari in Cooch Behar district on Saturday.

A CPI(M) worker, Rajibul Hoque from Ausgram in East Burdwan district, succumbed to his injuries in NRS Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. He was brought to the hospital after he was injured in a clash.

Hoque was first taken to Burdwan district hospital and later referred to Kolkata after his condition worsened.

A TMC worker, Gautam Roy, was killed after he was allegedly attacked by CPI(M) workers with bamboo sticks in Nandigram in East Burdwan. He was declared brought dead after being rushed to Katwa Sub-Divisional Hospital.

In Jalpaiguri, a Trinamool candidate was allegedly attacked by BJP workers.

BJP, TMC REACT ON VIOLENCE
BJP leader Rahul Sinha reacted to the violence which marred the panchayat polls and said it was a “farce in the name of election”.

“When the Election Commission and government collude and take a decision that the ruling TMC loot the election, then what is happening now will happen. Central forces came here but they were not sent to booths… The TMC is attacking the BJP and other parties. It seems to be a farce in the name of election. We can’t call this an election for the people,” Sinha told news agency ANI.

The TMC hit out at the opposition parties who were clamouring for the deployment of central forces in the state amid the violence. The party questioned where were the central forces that were brought in for the elections.

Meanwhile, in Cooch Behar, a TMC booth committee chairman, identified as Ganesh Sarkar, was stabbed to death in Rampur. The incident occurred late last night. Sarkar was rushed to a hospital in Alipurduar, where he was declared brought dead.

In another incident of poll violence, Communist Party of India (Marxist) activist Hafizur Rahman was injured after he was shot at. The incident took place in Okrabari village in Cooch Behar district.

Rahman was the uncle of Congress alliance candidate Ansar Ali.

The brother of a TMC leader was killed in a clash with Congress supporters in Malda district, police said. The incident happened in Jisharattola in Manikchak police station area. The deceased was identified as Malek Sheikh.

A TMC worker was allegedly attacked by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers in Gazna Gram Panchayat in Nadia district without any provocation. The accused — Biswanath Ghosh, Goutam Ghosh, Amit Ghosh, Bharat Ghosh, Debkumar Ghosh and Labkumar Ghosh — have been identified by police.

In Narayanpur-1 Gram Panchayat, a TMC candidate’s husband was allegedly attacked by CPI(M) workers. The TMC has alleged that CPI(M) activists fired at the husband of Hasina Sultana, just before the commencement of polling.

Incidents of destruction of ballot boxes and intimidation of voters were also reported from some areas.

OVER 2 LAKH CANDIDATES IN FRAY
A total of 2.06 lakh candidates are in the fray for elections to 73,887 seats in the three-tier panchayat system in the state, they said.

Sporadic incidents of violence were reported across the state after the election dates were announced on June 8, resulting in the deaths of over 15 people.

There are 63,229 gram panchayat seats and 9,730 panchayat samiti seats in 22 districts, while 928 zilla parishad seats in 20 districts as Darjeeling and Kalimpong have a two-tier system with Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) and Siliguri Sub-divisional Council at the top.

At least 600 companies of central forces have been deployed for the elections along with around 70,000 state police.

In the last panchayat elections in 2018, the TMC bagged around 34 per cent of the seats uncontested, and won 90 per cent of the rest, amid allegations of violence.