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Bengal preps for elections in 108 civic bodies on Sunday; TMC cautions party workers
Opposition parties have already raised apprehensions of violence on polling day. They had even moved the Calcutta high court demanding deployment of central forces on election day. When the high court left it to the state poll panel to take the call the BJP moved the Supreme Court.
Amid fears of poll-violence raised by the opposition when 108 civic bodies in West Bengal go for elections on Sunday, the ruling Trinamool Congress has cautioned its workers not to fall prey to any incitement by the opposition.
The TMC published a list of dos and don’ts for its workers on Saturday in its mouth piece ‘Jago Bangla’.
It said that as the opposition knew they would lose the elections, they could stage drama and incite people to remain in the limelight. TMC workers were advised not to fall prey to such incitement. If necessary the workers should inform their leaders or the police.
TMC workers were cautioned of not getting embroiled in any untoward incident in a bid to ensure victory, which might in the long run tarnish the party’s image.
“Our senior leaders have been telling all these to the workers. Today it was just compiled to remind the party-men once more ahead of the polls. The opposition knows they will lose and could hence try to incite TMC workers. Our workers were told not to lose their focus. Senior party leaders will be present in the control room on Sunday,” said Kunal Ghosh, TMC spokesperson.
Opposition parties have already raised apprehensions of violence on polling day. They had even moved the Calcutta high court demanding deployment of central forces on election day. When the high court left it to the state poll panel to take the call the BJP moved the Supreme Court.
On Friday, the Supreme Court dismissed the BJP’s petition to deploy central forces even as the BJP-led Centre expressed its willingness to station forces citing an earlier instance when such a deployment was ordered for Tripura municipal elections by the top court.
The BJP and other parties, however, took a swipe at the TMC’s appeal to its workers through its mouthpiece.
“Who reads Jago Bangla? Do TMC workers know how to read? This is the double standard of the TMC. While on paper they may say such things, the ground reality is somewhat different. Hence it doesn’t matter what the leaders or the mouth piece says,” said Sukanta Majumdar, BJP president in West Bengal.
Allegations of minor pre-poll violence and candidates and workers of opposition parties being threatened by the ruling party poured in from some areas including East Midnapore and Murshidabad.
“The chief minister says something while her party workers and local leaders engage in violence to win the elections. The poll panel remains a mute spectator,” said Adhir Ranjan Choudhury, leader of the Congress party in the Lok Sabha and a resident of Murshidabad.
In December 2021, the TMC had swept the Kolkata Municipal Corporation elections, and earlier this month it bagged four municipalities - Bidhannagar, Siliguri, Asansol and Chandannagar. The party won the Siliguri Municipal Corporation in north Bengal for the first time.
