West Bengal Panchayat Election: TMC Says 3 Workers ‘Murdered’ As Toll Rises To 23
Voting for the West Bengal panchayat election 2023 began at 7am on Saturday amid tight security, but not before three more persons were killed in Murshidabad district, taking the toll to 23 since the poll dates were announced.
Since June 8, West Bengal has reported a number of violence in various parts of the state. In the latest incident, one person, identified as Abdullah Ali, in Kadambagachi of North 24 Parganas in Murshidabad district. One more person was killed in Murshidabad district’s Beldanga.
A polling booth at Baravita Primary School in Coochbehar’s Sitai was vandalised and ballot papers were set on fire.
The ruling Trinamool Congress claimed that three of its party workers have been “murdered” in Rejinagar, Tufanganj and Khargram and two have been left wounded from gunshots in Domkol.
“Shocking and tragic incidents send shockwaves through the voting community. Three of our party workers have been murdered in Rejinagar, Tufanganj and Khargram and two have been left wounded from gunshots in Domkol. The @BJP4Bengal, @CPIM_WESTBENGAL and @INCWestBengal have been clamouring for the deployment of Central Forces. So, where are the Central Forces when they are needed the most? This signals a colossal failure on their part to ensure the safety and security of the people, before the polls have even commenced!” the TMC tweeted.
A 52-year-old TMC worker, identified as Sateshuddin Sheikh, was killed in Khargram of Murshidabad. His body has been brought to a hospital for postmortem.
Governor CV Ananda Bose hit the streets
Urging the people of rural Bengal to exercise their franchise in the panchayat elections without fail, On Saturday, governor CV Ananda Bose hit the streets since the voting started. He will visit polling booths in several areas of the districts. His first halt was at North 24 Parganas. The governor described Saturday’s panchayat polls as a “fight between ballots and bullets” and said that he would monitor the situation throughout the state and take corrective measures.
A total of 2.06 lakh candidates are in the fray for elections to 73,887 seats in the three-tier panchayat system in the state.
The election assumes significance for political parties as it will serve as an opportunity for them to assess their organisational strengths and weaknesses ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, besides broadly outlining the mood of the state after two years of the TMC government’s third consecutive term.
There are 63,229 gram panchayat seats and 9,730 panchayat samiti seats in 22 districts, while 928 zilla parishad seats in 20 districts as Darjeeling and Kalimpong have a two-tier system with Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) and Siliguri Sub-divisional Council at the top.
Long queues outside polling booths
Long queues outside polling booths were seen as early as 6am with people turning out early amid the intermittent rains.
The ruling TMC is contesting all the 928 seats in zilla parishads, 9,419 seats in panchayat samitis and 61,591 seats in gram panchayats. The BJP has fielded candidates in 897 zilla parishad seats, 7,032 panchayat samiti seats and 38,475 seats in gram panchayats.
The CPI(M) is fighting 747 zilla parishad seats, 6,752 panchayat samiti seats and 35,411 gram panchayat seats. The Congress is contesting 644 zilla parishad seats, 2,197 panchayat samiti seats and 11,774 gram panchayat seats.
As many as 600 central forces companies have been deployed for the elections along with around 70,000 state police.