Adhir Ranjan requests security for media during Bengal panchayat polls

Congress West Bengal president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary shot off a letter to West Bengal Governor CV Anand Bose on providing security cover to the media personnel during the ensuing panchayat election in the state.

In the letter he descibed the state of West Bengal to be on the 'volcano of violence'. "I beg to state that prior to the Panchayat Elections, 2023, the state of West Bengal is literally on the volcano of violence with as many as 10 persons having been fallen victims to crude violence since the Issuance of notifications for the said elections on 8th June," he wrote.

"The unchained beasts of violence and Intimidation are likely to swagger over the entire state following the articulate and inarticulate commands of the leadership of the ruling party," he wrote in the letter mentioning that under such circumstances the electorate including media personnel and vote-workers are not safe.

Furthering his demand for protection to media personnels during polls, Choudhury said, "It is known to Your Excellency that in a democratic set-up like ours the mass media are regarded the fourth pillar of democracy. Before and during the poll the media personnel cover the entire clection scenarios taking serious risk of their life."

Choudhury reminded the Governor that in the past, many media persons wore injured and killed in the incidents of violence. "The entire media world and I myself will remain ever beholden to you, if you kindly issue order or do whist is required for providing security cover for the media persons on duty," he requested.