Political violence continues to rock Bengal; one dead
Violence broke out in West Bengal ahead of the sixth phase of elections scheduled for April 22 with one person dead, and clashes reported from separate incidents across the state since Monday evening.
In Murshidabad district’s Hariharpara, 52-year-old Congress’s panchayat-level leader Kasem Ali was killed when miscreants hurled country-made bombs at him.
While the Congress has accused the Trinamool Congress, the latter has rubbished the charges.
“We have received a complaint. Sitting [TMC] MLA Niamot Sheikh has been named as one of the accused. We have started an investigation,” said a senior police officer from the district.
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“The TMC knows very well that it would lose the battle in Murshidabad district and so, is resorting to violence,” said Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Congress president in the state.
“I heard that Ali was killed because of an old rivalry. The Congress is trying to malign the TMC as the incident has happened before the elections,” said MLA Sheikh.
In the Darjeeling hills, two persons were injured as post-poll clashes broke out between the two factions of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) late on Monday. Both the factions are the alliance partners of the ruling TMC.
In Birbhum district, incidents of violence were reported from place such as Nanur and Mayureshwar. Both the seats go to polls in the last phase on April 29.
While one person was injured in a blast at Mayureshwar, there were reports of bombs being hurled outside houses of both TMC and BJP supporters at Nanur. At Jalanadi village in Nanur assembly, a TMC worker’s house was ransacked, and the haystack kept in the courtyard was set on fire.
There were also reports of clashes between the TMC and the BJP late on Monday night and bombs being hurled to threaten voters at Amdanga and Khardaha in North 24 Parganas.
“We have sought reports from all the districts from where incidents of violence were reported. The security forces and district administration have been asked to deal with such incidents strictly. There would be zero tolerance towards violence,” said a senior poll panel official
As the violence continued, so did the political slugfest.
“West Bengal is sitting on explosives, and this hasn’t happened overnight. In 2011, the TMC, before coming to power, had said that it would seize all illegal weapons in the state. But now people can see that nothing has changed. The same tradition of poll violence continues,” said Jay Prakash Majumdar, BJPs state vice president.
The TMC launched a veiled attack on the BJP, saying it was the outsiders brought in by the BJP who were resorting to violence. “A political party has brought in thousands of outsiders in the state. We all know that after elections are announced, the power goes to the Election Commission of India. The poll panel has been transferring top IPS and IAS officers over the past few weeks,” said Kunal Ghosh, TMC spokesperson
Violence broke out in West Bengal ahead of the sixth phase of elections scheduled for April 22 with one person dead, and clashes reported from separate incidents across the state since Monday evening.
In Murshidabad district’s Hariharpara, 52-year-old Congress’s panchayat-level leader Kasem Ali was killed when miscreants hurled country-made bombs at him.
While the Congress has accused the Trinamool Congress, the latter has rubbished the charges.
“We have received a complaint. Sitting [TMC] MLA Niamot Sheikh has been named as one of the accused. We have started an investigation,” said a senior police officer from the district.
Click here for complete coverage of West Bengal assembly elections
“The TMC knows very well that it would lose the battle in Murshidabad district and so, is resorting to violence,” said Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Congress president in the state.
“I heard that Ali was killed because of an old rivalry. The Congress is trying to malign the TMC as the incident has happened before the elections,” said MLA Sheikh.
In the Darjeeling hills, two persons were injured as post-poll clashes broke out between the two factions of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) late on Monday. Both the factions are the alliance partners of the ruling TMC.
In Birbhum district, incidents of violence were reported from place such as Nanur and Mayureshwar. Both the seats go to polls in the last phase on April 29.
While one person was injured in a blast at Mayureshwar, there were reports of bombs being hurled outside houses of both TMC and BJP supporters at Nanur. At Jalanadi village in Nanur assembly, a TMC worker’s house was ransacked, and the haystack kept in the courtyard was set on fire.
There were also reports of clashes between the TMC and the BJP late on Monday night and bombs being hurled to threaten voters at Amdanga and Khardaha in North 24 Parganas.
“We have sought reports from all the districts from where incidents of violence were reported. The security forces and district administration have been asked to deal with such incidents strictly. There would be zero tolerance towards violence,” said a senior poll panel official
As the violence continued, so did the political slugfest.
“West Bengal is sitting on explosives, and this hasn’t happened overnight. In 2011, the TMC, before coming to power, had said that it would seize all illegal weapons in the state. But now people can see that nothing has changed. The same tradition of poll violence continues,” said Jay Prakash Majumdar, BJPs state vice president.
The TMC launched a veiled attack on the BJP, saying it was the outsiders brought in by the BJP who were resorting to violence. “A political party has brought in thousands of outsiders in the state. We all know that after elections are announced, the power goes to the Election Commission of India. The poll panel has been transferring top IPS and IAS officers over the past few weeks,” said Kunal Ghosh, TMC spokesperson