Election-related violence claimed the lives of at least 15 persons on Saturday when voting took place for the West Bengal panchayat elections.
Sukanta Majumdar, the state president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), wrote to the Union Home Minister asking for help in stopping the violence, claiming that “free and fair elections are beyond imagination” and that “democracy in West Bengal has been strangled to death.” JP Nadda, the head of the BJP, called her as well, asking about the violence from earlier in the day.
Eight Trinamool Congress (TMC) members, three members of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), and one representative from each of the BJP and Congress were among those killed. Two other deaths have not yet had their identities confirmed.
In Murshidabad, three TMC members and a Congress worker were slain, while Cooch Behar saw the deaths of two people (one each from the BJP and TMC). In East Burdwan, three workers—two from CPI(M) and one from TMC—died.
One TMC employee passed away in Malda, and another TMC employee died in South 24 Parganas.
For the West Bengal panchayat elections, in which 5.67 crore individuals who live in the state’s rural districts are eligible to vote, voting began at 7 am on Saturday under tight security.
TMC employee Babar Ali was slain in the Kapasdanga neighbourhood of Murshidabad district, one of the most afflicted by violence. When he was taken to Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital in Baharampur, he was pronounced dead.
Rajibul Hoque, a member of the CPI(M) from Ausgram in the East Burdwan district, passed away from his wounds at the NRS Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. He was taken to the hospital after being hurt in a collision.
An unnamed group of criminals shot and killed BJP poll worker Madhav Biswas on Saturday in Falimari, Cooch Behar district.
Rajibul Hoque, a member of the CPI(M) from Ausgram in the East Burdwan district, passed away from his wounds at the NRS Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. He was taken to the hospital after being hurt in a collision.
Hoque was initially transported to a hospital in Burdwan before being transferred to one in Kolkata as his condition deteriorated.
In East Burdwan’s Nandigram, a TMC employee named Gautam Roy was killed following an alleged attack with bamboo sticks by CPI(M) members. After being taken to Katwa Sub-Divisional Hospital, he was pronounced brought dead.
A Trinamool candidate in Jalpaiguri is said to have been attacked by BJP employees.
Rahul Sinha, a BJP leader, responded to the violence that marred the panchayat elections by calling them 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.
In response to the cries for the deployment of federal forces in the state amid the unrest, the TMC criticized the opposition parties. The party inquired as to the whereabouts of the central soldiers sent for the elections.
Ganesh Sarkar, the chairman of the TMC booth committee, was fatally murdered in Rampur while this was happening in Cooch Behar. Last night’s incident happened late. Sarkar was sent to a hospital in Alipurduar and pronounced dead there.
Hafizur Rahman, a member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), was shot at in a separate incidence of election violence. The tragedy happened in the Cooch Behar district’s Okrabari village.
Ansar Ali, a candidate for the Congress alliance, was related to Rahman.
In an altercation with Congress supporters in the Malda district, a TMC leader’s brother was slain, according to the police. The incident took place near the Manikchak police station in Jisharattola. Malek Sheikh was named as the deceased.
Workers from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are accused of unprovoked assaulting a TMC member at the Gazna Gram Panchayat of the Nadia district. Police have named the defendants as Biswanath Ghosh, Goutam Ghosh, Amit Ghosh, Bharat Ghosh, Debkumar Ghosh, and Labkumar Ghosh.
A TMC candidate’s husband allegedly suffered an attack at Narayanpur-1 Gram Panchayat from CPI(M) workers. Prior to the start of voting, the TMC claims that CPI(M) activists opened fire on Hasina Sultana’s husband.
Voter intimidation and ballot box destruction incidents were also reported from various regions.
According to them, there are a total of 2.06 lakh candidates running for 73,887 seats in the state’s three-tiered panchayat system.
Following the announcement of the election dates on June 8, sporadic acts of violence were recorded around the state, claiming the lives of over 15 individuals.
There are 63,229 gram panchayat seats, 9,730 panchayat samiti seats, and 928 zilla parishad seats spread over 22 districts, with the top two levels of government in Darjeeling and Kalimpong being the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) and the Siliguri Sub-divisional Council.
For the elections, at least 600 companies of central forces and some 70,000 state police have been sent out.
In the most recent panchayat elections in 2018, the TMC gained 90% of the remaining seats while winning around 34% of the seats without any opposition.
