‘TMC Wants Bullet Election’: Bengal Cong Chief Writes To Guv Urging Central Forces For Panchayat Polls

Bengal Congress President Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury wrote to the Governor on Friday urging him to arrange for Central forces during the Panchayat polls to have a free and fair election.

TCongress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury wrote to West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose urging him to arrange Central forces to have free and fair Panchayat elections. In his letter to the Governor, he talked about the assassination of a party worker Fulchand Shaikh and alleged that "Jungle rule" prevails in the state under which the "thugs and miscreants" of the ruling party are preying upon the opposition workers like they are some "monsters of the deep".

"In every nook and corner of the state, anarchy reigns supreme. The primary condition of democracy along with its ideals has deeply been buried in a grave which was dug out by the hooliganism spirit of the ruling party of the state," the letter reads. Chowdhury added that in light of violent incidents, he has a solid reason to believe that the dream of having a free and fair election to three-tier Panchayat in June will be a far-fetched one, and requested for polls to be held under the deployment of central forces.

The Congress leader further told news agency ANI, "An active Congress worker was killed in Khargram of Murshidabad. This happened in view of the panchayat elections. The murder accused got the protection of the Khargram administration after which the murder was carried out. We will protest against it. TMC wants a bullet election or ballot election? We will not allow Trinamool Congress to do this politics of blood."

Meanwhile, West Bengal BJP President Sukanta Majumdar will meet Governor Bose today in Rajbhawan over the upcoming Panchayat elections in the state.

Bengal Panchayat Polls Schedule

SEC Rajiva Sinha on Thursday said that the village council elections will be held on a single day, with the deadline for filing nominations set for June 15. The votes will be counted on July 11.

Seen as a litmus test ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, panchayat polls in West Bengal will witness a fierce contest between the BJP and the ruling Trinamool Congress.

Hearing the pleas filed by the BJP and the Congress on Panchayat elections, the Division Bench of the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court asked the State Election Commission (SEC) on Friday to reconsider the notification of the local polls, observing that more time should be given for filing nominations. 

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