Kankuria Woman Joins TMC Inside Counting Office After Winning Bengal Panchayat Poll On CPI-M Ticket

The woman said that she was previously associated with the TMC, but owing to family obligations, she stood as a CPM candidate in the elections, according to ABP Ananda.

New Delhi: As the counting for the West Bengal Panchayat elections is still underway, a CPI(M) candidate joined Trinamool Congress soon after she was declared winner in the Purba Bardhaman district. The incident reportedly took place at Kakuriya Panchayat of Block No. 1 in Kalna, reported ABP Ananda.

Reacting to her sudden party switch, CPI(M) alleged that her children had been abducted and she was forced to switch parties. However, the winning candidate Geeta Hansda has refuted the allegations.

The woman said that she was previously associated with the TMC, but owing to family obligations, she stood as a CPM candidate in the elections, according to ABP Ananda.

Meanwhile, TMC looks set to sweep the violence-scarred rural polls keeping intact the mandate it won two years back during the assembly polls by taking an unassailable lead in results declared till now by the State Election Commission.

The ruling TMC has won in 16,330 gram panchayat seats out of the 23,344 seats declared, besides leading in 3,002 seats, according to the SEC as of 5.30 pm. Its nearest rival BJP has won 3,790 seats and is leading in 802 seats. In all elections are being held for 63,229 gram panchayat seats. 

The results reflect the faith of the people in TMC and the state government. It also shows that people have rejected the divisive politics of the BJP and the negative politics of the Congress and CPI (M), TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said.

The elections were keenly contested as they were seen by all parties as an indicator of which way the wind will blow in the 2024 parliamentary elections from this part of the country.

The violence which rocked the panchayat polls held on Saturday has claimed at least 15 lives with 11 of them from the ruling TMC. Since elections were announced last month, the number of people who died in poll-related incidents has been 33, with the ruling party suffering 60 per cent of the deaths, reported PTI.

Allegations of vote tampering and violence by various parties forced the SEC to order re-polling in 696 seats on Monday, which passed more or less peacefully.