'There Should Be Fair Elections Or Else...': Mallikarjun Kharge Condemns Bengal Panchayat Poll-Violence

Kharge expressed his displeasure and called for a transparent electoral process, emphasising the importance of fair elections for the preservation of democracy.

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 statement is in response to reports of violence and disruptions during the West Bengal Panchayat elections, which raised concerns about democratic principles. 

"I condemn this (violence during West Bengal Panchayat elections) because there should be fair elections, otherwise there will be no democracy," Kharge was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

The West Bengal state election commission announced earlier in the day that repolling will take place on Monday in all booths where voting for the rural elections has been declared void. The SEC, which met on Sunday evening, reviewed reports of vote tampering and violence that disrupted polling in many areas and issued the order, news agency PTI reported citing an official. 

Murshidabad has the most booths (175) among the districts where repolling has been announced, followed by Malda with 112, the report said. 

According to the report, repolling will take place in 89 booths in Nadia, while 46 and 36 booths in North and South 24 Parganas districts, respectively.

Meanwhile, Governor C V Ananda Bose flew to New Delhi on Sunday, where he is expected to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah and submit a report on the violence that occurred during the state's panchayat elections. Bose is expected to meet with Shah on Monday morning. 

At least 18 people were killed across eight West Bengal districts on Saturday as the three-tier panchayat elections in 20 districts were marred by widespread violence, ballot paper looting, and rigging, according to media reports. Only in Darjeeling and Kalimpong, two hilly districts with two-tier panchayats, was voting peaceful, reports said. 

The poll body was initially opposed to the idea of deploying additional forces, and the Calcutta high court even intervened. In a state where booth violence is deeply embedded in the political culture, the election watchdog should have been far more competent and serious about its responsibilities.

In the 2018 panchayat elections, 23 people died across Bengal, with 12 of them dying on election day.