Bengal Panchayat Polls: 11 Dead, Ballot Boxes Burnt As TMC, BJP Engage In War Of Words Amid Violence — Top Points

At least 11 people have died and many others were hurt in poll-related violence in West Bengal during Panchayat elections on Saturday.

Members of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha being detained at a protest against the alleged violence during West Bengal Panchayat elections. ( Image Source :PTI )

New Delhi: The West Bengal Panchayat polls are making headlines more due to violence and less because of the political contest taking place in the state. Since the announcement of rural elections in Bengal, violent clashes, murder and other incidents have been reported and the same continues even on the day of polling on Saturday. Several people have died in the violence on voting day as BJP, TMC, Congress and CPI(M) blame each other for the troubled situation of the state. Visuals of ballot boxes being set ablaze, and bombs being hurled are doing rounds on social media. Here is all that transpired in the polls so far:

Top Points On Developments On Bengal Panchayat Elections

• Eleven people were killed in election-related violence in West Bengal since midnight as voting was underway on Saturday for the three-tier panchayat polls in the state, officials said. Among those killed were five TMC members, and one worker each of the BJP, CPI(M) and Congress, and the supporter of an Independent candidate, they said. Besides violent clashes that injured several people, ballot boxes were destroyed in at least two polling booths, they added.

 

• Trinamool Congress on Saturday claimed that three of its party workers have been killed ahead of the panchayat polls in West Bengal. "...Three of our party workers have been murdered in Rejinagar, Tufanganj and Khargram and two have been left wounded from gunshots in Domkol," the party claimed. Reacting to the development, West Bengal minister Shashi Panja said, "Shocking and tragic incidents have unfolded the night before which has just started this morning in the Panchayat elections in West Bengal. The BJP, CPI(M) and Congress had colluded together and were clamouring for Central forces. Where is the deployment?."
   
• West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose on Saturday termed the day of Panchayat Polls in the state as the 'most sacred day for democracy'. He said that elections should be held through 'ballots and not bullets'. The remarks came on various incidents of violence that have been reported from different districts in the state. He said,"I have been in the field right from the morning...People requested me, stopped my motorcade on the way. They told me about the murders happening around them, told me about the goons not allowing them to go to the polling booths...It should cause concern to all of us. This is the most sacred day for democracy...Election must be through ballots and not bullets.."
   
• A Bharatiya Janata Party candidate claimed she sustained injuries after being attacked by hooligans while her polling agent succumbed to injuries during panchayat polls in Bengal. The polling agent, Madhav Vishwas was killed in the attack on a polling booth in Falimari gram panchayat of Cooch Behar, while the candidate Maya Burman was admitted to a hospital, she claimed, accusing Trinamool Congress for the attacks. "TMC goons hurled a bomb at my agent and killed him. They also attacked me," Burman said as per news agency ANI. 
   
• West Bengal LoP and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari tweeted some photos and videos of violence and said, "West Bengal Panchayat Elections - Carnival of DEMO'N'CRACY. Mamata Banerjee's henchman & contract killer; State Election Commissioner Rajiv Sinha is executing her plans across the State." While talking to media, Adhikari slammed the Mamata Banerjee government and said, "This is not an election, this is death. There is a fire of violence across the state. Central forces have not been deployed. CCTVs are not operating. This is not voting but loot...This is the collusion of TMC goons and Police and that is why so murders are happening."

 

• Meanwhile, a polling booth in Cooch Behar was damaged and the ballot box was burnt by miscreants soon after voting began here. In a similar kind of incident, voting was discontinued as a booth was attacked in Jalpaiguri, reports PTI. TMC and Congress workers clashed over the jumping of queues by some voters at Booth No. 23 in Kolabedia area of Domkal while ballot boxes were stolen and the booth in Barasat was destroyed during the polls. Residents of Dhamsa in Hooghly threw two ballot boxes in a pond allegedly after scuffle between TMC and BJP workers at a polling booth. The residents alleged that Central forces were not deployed at the centre, reported ANI.

 

• According to PTI, the TMC also alleged that its booth committee member in Tufanganj 2 panchayat samiti in Cooch Behar, Ganesh Sarkar, was killed in an attack by the BJP. 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, they said. The TMC also alleged that one of its workers was killed in Nadia's Chapra.

 

• Trinamool Congress has accused the jawans of Central forces of appealing to people to vote for the Bharatiya Janta party (BJP) in West Bengal Panchayat polls. TMC leader Kunal Ghosh said that the jawans who have been deployed at various booths across the state are asking people to vote for the BJP. "Some jawans of central forces at a booth are going to the people and appealing to them to vote for BJP but people of West Bengal will not respond to their appeal," he said.

 

• Reacting to violent clashes and other incidents, Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur said that the announcement of polls in Bengal means the beginning of the murder of democracy. "...Fighting with people, firing, bombings, and arson have become a common thing and many such examples have been seen more than once. Under Mamata Banerjee's government, ballot boxes are looted and democracy is crushed and killed. Mamta Banerjee and TMC leaders do the work of stooping to any level to win the elections, but Congress & Rahul Gandhi remains silent. Congress wants to form an alliance with Mamata Banerjee? Will Rahul Gandhi say something? What is the compulsion of Mamata Banerjee that in every election there is murder, murder and murder of people...," he told ANI.

 

• CPI(M) leader MD Salim said that "It (violence during West Bengal panchayat elections) is a goof up between the central force and the state force police, as well as between the coordinating department and the Home Ministry. Ultimately the people have been thrown to the wolves."

 

• Amidst the voting in West Bengal Panchayat elections, many vehicles were set on fire after violence broke out in the state’s Birbhum district on Saturday. Ballot box at a polling booth in Baranachina of Dinhata in Cooch Behar district was set on fire allegedly by voters who were angry with bogus voting that was reportedly going on there.