KOLKATA: Widespread violence on the polling day in West Bengal Panchayat elections today allegedly claimed the lives of at least nine people.
According to latest reports, five Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers and one worker each of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Congress, and a supporter of an independent candidate were killed in clashes between workers of different political parties.
Polling booths were ransacked, ballot boxes set on fire or thrown into ponds at different places as people queued up to vote in the significant three-tier panchayat polls, which is expected to serve as a litmus test for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
A total of 5.67 crore people living in the state's rural areas are eligible to exercise their franchise in the election, polling for which began at 7 am on Saturday. The fates of as many as 73,000 seats are to be decided in the high-octane panchayat polls. Till 1 PM, the voting turnout stood at 33.36%.
With the polling commencing at 7 am today, three Trinamool Congress workers were allegedly killed in separate incidents in the districts of Nadia, Murshidabad and Malda.
A polling agent of the BJP was allegedly killed in Cooch Behar, while a CPI(M) worker critically injured on Friday evening in East Burdwan district, succumbed to his injuries this morning in a hospital.
A supporter of an independent candidate was said to have been injured in a clash in Kadambagachi of North 24 Parganas, with family members claiming that the man was beaten to death. However, according to Barasat district police SP Bhaskar Mukherjee, he is critical and is undergoing treatment at a hospital.
West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose took stock of the situation and met people in various districts. Condemning the violence in the run up to and during the polls, he said: “This is the most sacred day for democracy… Election must be through ballots and not bullets…”.
Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari said after casting his vote, "This is not an election, this is death. There is a fire of violence across the state. Central forces have not been deployed. CCTVs are not operating. This is not voting but loot."
He also alleged that the TMC and the state police are working in cahoots and should be blamed for the violence.
Meanwhile, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh took a potshot at the BJP, saying that most of the people killed so far belonged to the ruling party.
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