West Bengal Rural Polls: Parties Blame Each Other For Violence, BJP Seeks Presidential Reign | Kolkata News

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KOLKATA/BEHRAMPORE: All parties in West Bengal have leveled accusations against each other over the violence that claimed the lives of 16 people in various districts as voting for the three-tier panchayat elections ended at 17 hours.

The opposition BJP has called for the president’s rule in the state. The party, which blamed state election commissioner Rajiva Sinha for the poll-related deaths, sent a letter to Union Home Secretary Amit Shah demanding his ‘intervention’ to restore democracy in the state, alleging that democracy has been “murdered in the state by the ruling party”. while the security forces played the role of an audience. « West Bengal Panchayat Election 2023 Live Updates

The ruling Trinamool Congress, which lost eight of its supporters to violent polls, however accused the opposition of orchestrating the violence and criticized central forces for their failure to protect voters. In the letter signed by BJP State Chairman Sukanta Majumdar, it was claimed that ’15 political deaths happened just on election day’ as polling booth captures, rigging and fake votes were observed in all districts”.

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He said TMC goons were “proactive in snatching voter/Aadhaar cards from ordinary voters as several karyakartas were faced with fake cases and others were hospitalized”. Majumdar claimed that very few stands were covered by the central armed paramilitary forces, while the rest were manned by police and civic volunteers. Opposition leader in the state assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, said: “A free and fair election under the administration of the state is a mirage. It is only possible if the elections are held under the presidential regime or under Article 355,” he told reporters.

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People manage to vote in Nandigram as voting for West Bengal panchayat polls is underway

Dismissing allegations that the state administration is carrying out a reign of terror, Minister of State Bratya Basu claimed that it was the Trinamool Congress that has been “the recipient of violence perpetuated by the opposition”. “Of the 22 districts that went to the rural polls, no incidents of violence were reported in 16. Of the nearly 61,000 booths, incidents were reported in only 60. Thus, one can determine the ratio of violence compared to areas where polling stations have been It’s less than one percent,” said another minister, Shashi Panja. Twelve people, including eight from the ruling TMC and one worker from the BJP, CPI(M), Congress and ISF, have died since midnight in the crucial three-tier panchayat polls, officials said. “A story is being told by the opposition parties with the help of Governor CV Ananda Bose and part 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 decreased significantly,” TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said West Bengal Pradesh Congress Speaker Adhir Chowdhury in a compliment for left hand, “congratulated” Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee for winning the just-concluded violent rural polls. “Congratulations Didi, you have won the panchayat elections,” he said. “‘Aapni jite gechen’ (you won),” he said, adding sarcastically that Banerjee’s injured leg will be fine on July 11 count day and that she will come out of her house and thank people for having made her victorious in the polls. . He alleged that the voting, which was due to start at 7 a.m. on Saturday, had in fact started on Friday evening. “Ballot boxes were taken out at night, fake votes were cast and these were put back into the ballot boxes before being sent back to the voting booths,” Chowdhury alleged. The CCP chairman said the polls were nothing but a farce. “If there hadn’t been a poll, there might not have been so many deaths,” he said. The CPI(M) accused the State Election Commission of staging a farce in the name of holding panchayat elections and blamed the ruling party for the 12 deaths. Alleging that the looting took place during the poll, CPI(M) central committee member Sujan Chakraborty said he however did not succeed everywhere as it is 2023 not 2018 while rural elections were a one-sided affair for the ruling party. . “The State Election Commission staged a farce in the name of holding the polls,” Chakraborty said. Describing the election as a “very dirty affair” having taken place, he claimed the widespread violence had taken place at the behest of ruling party activists. (With contributions from PTI)

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