Trinamool Congress workers and supporters have begun the celebration even before the official results of the West Bengal Panchayat elections as the party gets a massive lead. TMC already bagged 1,254 of 3,317 Gram Panchayat seats by the time this article was being written. On the other hand, Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) is emerging as a distant second after winning 288 Gram Panchayat seats. CM Mamata Banerjee's party is also leading Panchayat Samiti and Zila Parishads counting. Covered in green colour, TMC workers are celebrating the numbers with great furour.
This comes as counting continues at hundreds of counting centres across the state after violence and arson severely impacted the campaigning and voting for the rural body polls in Bengal.
Meanwhile, visuals of chaos and ruckus surfaced from various counting centres where police even resorted to lati-charge to disperse crowd. According to PTI, journalists burnt EC's ID cards after being denied entry into the counting centre in Raiganj. A also scuffle broke out between security forces and rioters at a counting centre in Nandigram, reported PTI.
Crude bombs were hurled and government vehicles were stopped outside a counting centre in Diamond Harbour. TMC said that any victory against BJP is a win for all parties of the opposition union.
Earlier in the day, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma tweeted, "Yesterday, 133 individuals who feared for their lives due to violence in the panchayat election in West Bengal sought refuge in Dhubri District of Assam. We have provided them with shelter in a relief camp, as well as food and medical assistance."
Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose issued a stern warning as counting began for the panchayat polls in the state which saw massive violence, deaths and repolling on the day of voting. He said, "There will be a relentless fight against growing violence in Bengal. Those who commit violence in the field will be made to curse the day they are born. All authorities will come down with a heavy hand on the goons and lawbreakers..."