Bengal Panchayat Elections: 12 Dead in Violence; BJP Seeks Re-poll As TMC ‘Confident of Win’ | Key Points – News18

The rural polls in Bengal concluded on a violent note, with the death toll climbing to over 12 amid multiple bomb explosions and accusations of strong-arm tactics among political parties on Saturday. While the BJP party has demanded re-polling, the TMC has asserted confidence in emerging victorious in a majority of the seats when the votes are counted on July 11.

Among the deaths, eight victims belonged to the ruling TMC party, while one worker each from the BJP, CPI(M), Congress and ISF died since midnight during the pivotal three-tier panchayat polls.

West Bengal’s State Election Commissioner Rajiva Sinha has pledged to address complaints of vote tampering and consider the option of re-polling based on reports from observers and returning officers.

Sinha acknowledged that the majority of violence-related complaints were concentrated in four districts, including North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas and Murshidabad district which will be taken into account during the review process. Around 1,300 complaints, including incidents of miscreants fleeing with ballot boxes, were reported from Barasat alone, he said.

Here are the top highlights of the West Bengal Panchayat Elections:

• The polling began at 7 am in 73,887 seats in the rural areas of the state with 5.67 crore people deciding the fate of around 2.06 lakh candidates. Till 5 pm, 66.28 per cent voter turnout was recorded, officials said.
• The casualties during the Bengal rural polls included Madhab Biswas, BJP’s polling agent, who was allegedly killed in Falimari gram panchayat in Coochbehar district. According to the BJP, Biswas was stopped by TMC supporters when he tried to enter the polling booth in the morning, leading to a situation that escalated and resulted in his killing. However, the TMC denied these allegations.
• In another incident, an Independent candidate’s supporter was injured in the Kadambagachi area of North 24 Paraganas district. Initially reported as deceased, it was later clarified that the individual, Abdullah Ali, was critically injured and on ventilator support.
• In Goalpokhar, Uttar Dinajpur, a clash between TMC and Congress workers resulted in the death of the husband of the TMC Panchayat head, Shanshah. A TMC worker named Babar Ali was killed in overnight violence in Murshidabad district’s Kapasdanga area. Another TMC worker, Sabiruddin Sk, was killed in the Khargram area of the same district. The TMC also claimed that Ganesh Sarkar, their booth committee member in Tufanganj 2 panchayat samiti in Cooch Behar, was killed in an attack by the BJP.
• In a clash with Congress supporters, the brother of a TMC leader was killed in Malda district’s Jisharattola. Another TMC worker lost his life in Nadia’s Chapra.
• ISF worker, Saidul Seikh, was killed in a clash with the TMC in Haringhata. Conflicting narratives arose as TMC President Debasish Ganguli claimed that the incident occurred when ISF supporters accidentally set off a crude bomb, while Seikh’s family alleged that he was attacked by TMC supporters.
• Another fatality occurred in South 24 Parganas district’s Basanti, where a 38-year-old man named Anisur was killed. Additionally, a Congress worker named Yasmin Sk was allegedly killed in election-related violence in Murshidabad’s Rejinagar police station area. A vehicle was also set on fire by miscreants in Murshidabad.
• In Purba Bardhaman district’s Aushgram 2 block, CPI(M) worker Rajibul Hoque was critically injured in an alleged attack by TMC supporters and later died while receiving treatment at a hospital. The TMC accused CPI(M) supporters of killing one of their workers outside a polling booth in the Katawa area of the district. The deceased in this case was identified as Goutam Roy.
• Congress leader Kaustav Bagchi said that he had submitted a representation to the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court, requesting an urgent hearing regarding a prayer to declaration the ongoing panchayat elections in West Bengal as null and void due to widespread violence and killings.
• There were also reports of ballot box destruction and voter intimidation in certain areas. In Dinhata, Cooch Behar district, ballot boxes were vandalised, and ballot papers were set on fire at a booth located in Baravita Govt Primary School. Additionally, in the Barnachina area, locals allegedly burned a ballot box along with the ballot papers, claiming that false voting had taken place. CPI(M) state secretary Md Salim shared a video of open ballot boxes lying in the field, tweeting, “Vote is over! Condition of the ballots, ballot boxes in one of the booths. Btw this pic is from Diamond Harbour.”
• West Bengal Pradesh Congress president Adhir Chowdhury “congratulated” Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee for winning the violent elections. “Congrats Didi, you have won the panchayat elections,” he said. “‘Aapni jite gechen’ (you have won),” he said, adding sarcastically that Banerjee’s injured leg will be fine on the counting day on July 11 and she will come out of her home and thank people for making her victorious in the polls. If the polls were not held, then perhaps there wouldn’t have been so many deaths,” he said. “What happened on Saturday was state-sponsored terrorism,” Chowdhury alleged, adding that the BJP will take advantage of the situation as it had done after the 2018 panchayat polls. “Nobody will be spared by the Trinamool goons. The ruling party has got the opportunity to renew the license to carry out loot for the next five years,” he added.
• Union Minister Anurag Thakur also slammed ruling TMC government and said “the declaration of panchayat polls in West Bengal is akin to the start of murder of democracy. Beating up people, bomb blasts, and setting things afire become common occurrences,” he said. He also targeted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and said “Rahul Gandhi is silent because he wants to enter into an alliance with Mamata Banerjee. But she says she will not allow them to enter Bengal. Will Rahul Gandhi speak anything against the murder of democracy in West Bengal.”
• Union Home Minister Amit Shah took cognizance of the poll violence and sought details from BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar.
• While at least 600 companies of central forces have been deployed for the elections along with around 70,000 state police, state BJP chief Majumdar said that the State Election Commission (SEC) was reluctant to deploy the central forces that were sent to the state. He wrote a letter to Shah seeking restoration of democracy and said, “On the one hand, the SEC is reluctant to deploy the central forces. On the other hand, civil volunteers are deployed for election duty. This clearly shows that state govt and SEC has hoodwinked the courts. Is SEC silently facilitating the booth capturing by TMC goons?” he asked.
• BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari told CNN-News18: “The situation is horrible. The central forces were not properly used, the state election commission and the ruling TMC government are trying to mislead people.” He has also demanded President’s Rule or implementation of Article 355 in the state, a charge the TMC termed as BJP accepting “defeat” and reflecting “frustration in the saffron camp.”
• TMC defended itself against the violence with Minister Bratya Basu claiming that it is the Trinamool Congress which has been at the “receiving end of the violence perpetuated by the opposition”. “Will TMC want to kill TMC?” he asked at a press conference. “Of the 22 districts that went to rural polls, no incident of violence was reported in 16. Of the nearly 61,000 booths, incidents were reported in only 60. So, one can ascertain the ratio of violence in comparison with the areas where polls were held peacefully. It is lesser than one per cent,” another minister, Shashi Panja, said.
• TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh claimed, “A narrative is being spun by the opposition parties with the help of the Governor (C V Ananda Bose) and a section of the media that elections in West Bengal are always violent. There have been few instances of violence, but if you compare with previous elections, you will see that the incidents of violence and deaths have gone down drastically.”
• Bengal State Election Commissioner (SEC) Rajiva Sinha has promised to address complaints of vote tampering and consider the possibility of re-polling after receiving reports from observers and returning officers. Sinha acknowledged that the highest number of violence-related complaints came from four districts, which will be taken into account during the review process. The decision regarding re-polling will be made on Sunday after careful scrutiny by observers and returning officers.
• Sinha received numerous reports of violence and clashes, particularly from North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, and Murshidabad districts. Around 1,300 complaints were received from Barasat alone, including incidents of miscreants fleeing with ballot boxes. A detailed scrutiny will be conducted, and re-polling will take place at booths with the highest reported violence or disrupted polling. Observers and returning officers will thoroughly examine the polling process to determine the necessity of re-polling in specific locations, he stated.
• Across the 22 districts in West Bengal, there are a total of 63,229 gram panchayat seats and 9,730 panchayat samiti seats. There are 928 zilla parishad seats in 20 districts, excluding Darjeeling and Kalimpong, which have a two-tier system consisting of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) and Siliguri Sub-divisional Council at the top.
• The ruling TMC contested in all 928 seats in zilla parishads, 9,419 seats in panchayat samitis and 61,591 seats in gram panchayats. The BJP fielded candidates for 897 zilla parishad seats, 7,032 panchayat samiti seats and 38,475 seats in gram panchayats. The CPI(M) contested in 747 zilla parishad seats, 6,752 panchayat samiti seats and 35,411 gram panchayat seats.
• The Congress contested the election with candidates for 644 zilla parishad seats, 2,197 panchayat samiti seats, and 11,774 gram panchayat seats.
• This election holds great significance for political parties as it allows them to assess their organizational strengths and weaknesses, providing insight into the state’s overall sentiment after the TMC government’s third consecutive term, as well as serving as a preliminary indication for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

(With inputs from PTI)