West Bengal Panchayat Polls: Trinamool Headed for Clean Sweep, BJP in Distant Second

KOLKATA: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) is heading towards a clean sweep in the results to the West Bengal panchayat elections, winning a majority of seats in all three tiers of the rural local government.

Going by the results declared till now, the TMC has won 2,552 out of 3,317 gram panchayats, 232 panchayat samitis, and 12 out of total 20 zilla parishads.

The BJP has come in a distant second, managing to win only 212 gram panchayats, 7 panchayat samitis, but not a single zilla parishad.

Some results to the panchayat elections are still awaited.

"It's TMC all the way in rural Bengal. I want to thank the people for their love, affection and support towards the TMC. This election has proved that only TMC resides in the heart of the people of the state," Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said in a Facebook post.

The counting of votes in the panchayat elections of the state had begun yesterday morning.

There are over 74,000 seats up for grabs in the rural polls, which include 63,229 gram panchayat seats, 9,730 panchayat samiti seats, and 928 zilla parishad seats.

The panchayat polls are being termed as a popularity test for Trinamool president and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee ahead of the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The polling day saw rampant violence across the state on Saturday.

The repolling in numerous booths on Monday was again marred by violence. Since Saturday, Around 40 people have reportedly died in poll-related violence.

Repolling was ordered and subsequently held in 696 booths after allegations were made of electoral fraud and booth capturing. There were also multiple reports of electoral irregularities and suppression of voters during the polling.

There was eruption of violence in Bhangar, South 24 Parganas last night, with reports of bullets being fired. While there was report of one death, a police officer was also said to be injured.

A counting center in Murshidabad was supposedly the target of explosives, which were detonated near it yesterday morning, even as the police resorted to baton charge to disperse a crowd in Howrah.

Opposition BJP accused the Trinamool of "desperate attempts to loot votes,” by preventing observers from the opposition entering counting centres.

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