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‘Matter of great concern’: Bengal governor on panchayat poll violence
Since midnight, as many as 11 people have allegedly been killed across the eastern state, along with incidents of booth loot and fire at booth stations, as voting is underway
West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose visited some of the violence-hit areas on Saturday even as reports of deaths poured in from across the state during the ongoing panchayat elections.
The crucial panchayat polls kicked off on Saturday at 7am and will go on till 5pm. The governor hit the streets in the morning to take stock of the law and order situation.
“I have been in the field right from the morning. People requested me and stopped my motorcade on the way. They told me about the murders happening around them. They told me how goons are not allowing them to go to the polling booths. It is a matter of great concern for all of us. This is the most sacred day for democracy. The election must be through ballots and not bullets,” Bose told reporters.
Bengal has been witnessing incidents of violence since panchayat poll dates were announced on June 8.
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The governor had said on Friday that he would be in the field even before the voting process begins and will return after it ends.
Since midnight, as many as 11 people have allegedly been killed across the eastern state, along with incidents of booth loot and fire at booth stations, as voting is underway.
On Saturday, Bose visited some violence-hit areas in North 24 Parganas and Nadia, where he met the family of an injured person. The governor also visited the injured man at the hospital and arranged for shifting the victim to a Kolkata-base hospital.
Bose was stopped near Basudebpur on his way to Nadia, where opposition parties supporters complained of rigging and violence.
As the voting began, amidst the violence, a booth was ransacked and set on fire at Dinhata in Cooch Behar district and a booth at Nimtita in Murshidabad was also looted late on Friday night, according to the officials familiar with the matter.
On Saturday, a polling booth at Baravita Primary School in Coochbehar’s Sitai was vandalised, and ballot papers were set on fire, said officials.
Lashing out at ruling-Trinamool Congress (TMC), the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claimed that the TMC goons are openly firing and threatening people as well as opposition candidates.
BJP IT-cell head Amit Malviya shared a video on social media site and wrote, “TMC goons openly brandish gun and threaten an independent candidate in Barrackpore, North 24 Parganas”.
In another video, in which a man can be purportedly seen running with a ballot box, the BJP Bengal alleged, “In a desperate bid for victory, risking their lives, they are seen running with the ballot box!”
“The state election commission and chief minister Mamata Banerjee is responsible for the bloodshed,” Malviya wrote on Twitter.
“9 people have died since morning and no one knows how many more will die through the day. SEC and Mamata Banerjee are responsible for this bloodshed,” he further said.
The governor has been visiting violence-hit areas in South 24 Parganas, Cooch Behar and Murshidabad and also meeting family members of victims killed in the run-up to the polls.
In June, a peace room (helpline) was launched at the Raj Bhavan in Kolkata which has been flooded with phone calls. It has received around 1,500 calls since it was opened on June 19 On the polling day it received around 200 calls till the afternoon, according to officials.
Earlier on Thursday, the governor had pulled up the state election commissioner claiming that the latter has failed in his duties.
Top officials of the state poll panel have refused to comment. The votes will be counted on July 11. 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.
