Voting has begun for nearly 75,000 seats in West Bengal Panchayat and reports of incidents of violence have also started coming from several districts. In Murshidabad, a long queue stands outside a polling booth with voters waiting for their turn to cast their vote. Violence and arson hit the state throughout the last month with political parties blaming each other for nearly 20 deaths in the state. Central forces have been deployed across the polling booths and four security personnel can be seen at each booth. To ensure fair voting, only five voters are allowed to enter the booth - five men and five women.
This comes as Trinamool Congress, Congress, Left and BJP are continuously accusing each other of repetitive violence in the state. Governor CV Ananda Bose has also visited several areas in the state assuring people that violence will be contained. West Bengal government is also in question over handling of the incidents of arson. Ballot boxes have been burnt in Cooch Behar and other districts. Meanwhile, polling is slow as the ballot box is used for voting during rural elections.
It will be interesting to see if the results favour Abhishek Banerjee's Navajwar Yatra that he did in the entire Bengal from Cooch Behar to South Bengal or if the outcome will strengthen the BJP's growing ground in the state.
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?."