3 shot dead in West Bengal ahead of Panchayat polls

Two persons were killed in Bhangore in South 24 Parganas district, about 30 km from Kolkata, while another youth was shot by miscreants in Chopra in Uttar Dinajpur district.

Kolkata: Three persons were shot dead and several others injured as violence and arson marked the end of the nomination run for the tripartite West Bengal panchayat polls scheduled for next month.

Two persons were killed in Bhangore in South 24 Parganas district, about 30 km from Kolkata, while another youth was shot by miscreants in Chopra in Uttar Dinajpur district, about 50 km from Siliguri, in the northern part of the state, it said. the police.

Several incidents of clashes were reported from different parts of the state as police had a harrowing time getting the situation under control.

State Election Commissioner (SEC) Rajiva Sinha declined to comment on the incident, stating that he has not yet received a report.

The violence sparked a political brawl between the opposition CPI(M), Congress and BJP – and the ruling TMC, with Prime Minister Mamata Banerjee accusing the opposition of defaming the state by orchestrating the violence.

She denied any involvement of her party associates in the incidents of violence and stated that the TMC has directed its members to allow all candidates to submit their nominations.

“In about 74,000 stands, only two or three incidents have occurred. Our party employees are not involved in those incidents,” said Banerjee.

She pointed out that violence during panchayat polls is not new, citing a similar situation in 2003 when 36 people were killed during the left-wing regime, she said: “Rural polls are so local that even three or four members of the same family dispute. ”

“Opposition parties are trying to stir up unrest by orchestrating violence when submitting nominations. They do it to tarnish the image of the state. If they (the opposition) think they will unleash unilateral violence, then people will respond appropriately,” she said.

Banerjee also referred to the 2013 panchayat polls in the state, when it was conducted under the supervision of central troops, but could not help stop the bloodshed as “49 people were killed”.

Talking about the ongoing violence in Bhangore, Banerjee blamed the Indian Secular Front (ISF) without naming the party.

“For the past two days, a political party that uses religion to polarize people has unleashed a reign of terror in Bhangore, attacking our party associates and looting several vehicles. There has also been some retaliation from our side yesterday,” she said.

The three-tier panchayat election of the state, comprising a sizable electorate of about 5.67 crores, will exercise their right to vote to elect representatives to nearly 75,000 seats in zilla parishes, panchayat samiti and gram panchayats.

According to the figures available till Wednesday, the TMC, which trailed the opposition in filing nominations in the first few days, had submitted nominations for nearly 50,000 seats, while the BJP had taken about 46,000 seats, and the CPI(M ) and the Congress had taken 38,000 and 11,000 seats respectively.

CPI(M) Secretary of State Md Salim said candidates from the Left Front and Congress were attacked in Chopra as they and their supporters went to submit nominations.

“The TMC has unleashed a reign of terror with tacit support from SEC and state police. This is shameful in a democracy,” said senior CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty. The ISF also denounced the TMC for “disregarding the democratic process in the state”.

“Since nominations began being filed, TMC goons have resorted to violence to prevent our candidates from reaching the nomination centers,” said ISF leader and Bhangore MLA Naushad Siddique.

BJP state spokesman Samik Bhattacharya said, “The SEC works as a frontal organization of the TMC. The TMC wants to make this panchayat election a farce just like 2018.”

In the 2018 nationwide polls, the TMC won 90 percent of Panchayat seats in the state and all 22 Zilla Parishads. These elections were marred by widespread violence and malpractice, with the opposition claiming they were unable to submit nominations for many seats in the state.

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Speaker of the State Congress, said the people of West Bengal can only vote if central troops are deployed.

(Only the headline has been reworked by India.com, the copy is from a syndicated feed)