Bengal Panchayat Polls Results To Decide Winner In TMC Vs BJP Face-Off Today After Massive Violence, Repolling — 10 Points

The results for West Bengal Panchayat elections will be declared today as counting is set to begin at 8 am across 339 centres in the state.

Counting of votes today for Bengal panchayat elections. ( Image Source :PTI )

The counting for high-stake West Bengal Panchayat elections will begin at 8 am today at 339 counting centres across the state after violence and arson severely affected the voting at several booths. The results will be declared on Monday only and will decide if TMC continues its reign in the rural body or if the BJP's growing ground gets strengthened further. Incidents of killing, burning of ballot boxes, and clashes continue to surface even when voting was underway. This prompted the Bengal State Election Commission to hold re-polling at 696 booths on Monday. As per PTI, at least 18 people were reported dead in poll-related violence. Here are the top ten points on the rural polls:

10 Points On West Bengal Panchayat Elections

• Heavy security deployment has been made on counting centres across the state. Security forces could be seen at Berhampore Girls College, Murshidabad, Cooch Behar and Narayantala Ramkrishna Vidhya Mandir, South 24 Parganas.
• West Bengal State Election Commission on Monday said that ballot papers without the signature of the Presiding Officer and the distinguishing mark rubber stamp affixed at the back of the ballot paper will be considered to be invalid and will not be counted as valid.
• BJP on Monday appointed a four-member fact-finding committee to visit the violence-affected areas in West Bengal tomorrow, where at least 18 people were killed during the panchayat elections on Saturday. The committee will visit the affected areas and report to BJP National President JP Nadda at the earliest. The four-member team will be led by former Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. The committee will include Satyapal Singh, Rajdeep Roy, and Rekha Verma.
• Amidst reports of violence during polling in West Bengal, Governor C V Ananda Bose on Monday met with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, where the governor presented a report concerning the violence that took place during the panchayat elections in the state, reported news agency PTI. Soon after the meeting concluded, Bose said, "The darkest hour is just before dawn. There will be light at the end of the tunnel. The only message I could get today is -if winter comes can spring be far behind? Good will happen in the days to come."
• Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said he is collecting evidence of alleged malpractice in several thousands of booths during the polling and will move the Calcutta High Court, stated the PTI report. "We had submitted a list of 6,000 booths to the SEC recommending repoll. Actually, false voting had taken place in 18,000 booths at the behest of the Trinamool Congress. We are collecting more evidence... video footage and everything," Adhikari told reporters, quoted PTI.
• Many instances of ballot box vandalism and destruction were also reported throughout the day. Ballot boxes and ballot papers were set on fire at a booth in Baravita Govt Primary School in the Dinhata area of Cooch Behar district, ANI reported. Ten members of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) were killed, three each from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress, and two each from the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), as per ANI.
• The Congress party's national president, Mallikarjun Kharge, strongly condemned the violence that occurred during the West Bengal Panchayat elections. Kharge expressed his displeasure and called for a transparent electoral process, emphasising the importance of fair elections for the preservation of democracy.
• The Bengal State Election Commission on Sunday announced repolling in booths where voting was declared void during the recent rural elections on Saturday (July 8). Repolling happened across a total of 696 booths across various regions of West Bengal, including Purulia, Birbhum, Jalpaiguri, and South 24 Parganas undergo the repolling process.
• The West Bengal state election commission was chastised on Saturday for allegedly failing to ensure a free and fair election procedure, following the deaths of 18 people on polling day amid allegations of booth capturing and rigging across the state. The threat of violence arose soon after voting began at 7 AM. Clashes broke out across the districts, with reports of ballot papers being burned and votes being rigged.
• West Bengal BJP President Dr. Sukanta Majumdar visited the violence-affected Hazratpur village in Dakshin Dinajpur and accused the police of not performing their duty, ANI reported. In a video, he was seen engaged in a heated argument with police officials and said, "You are unable to perform your duty." The officers vehemently denied the charge.