 "West Bengal Panchayat polls")
Violence and unrest marred the Panchayat elections in West Bengal, leading to multiple casualties. The West Bengal State Election Commission (SEC) confirmed that the police had verified at least 15 deaths resulting from poll-related violence across the state. The incidents occurred on the day of the Panchayat polls, with widespread clashes reported in various parts of West Bengal.
The polling for the panchayat elections began at 7 am on July 8 amid tight security in the state. An estimated 56.7 million voters cast their votes for 206,000 candidates contending for 73,887 seats in rural areas of the state.
The three-tier panchayat elections in 20 out of 30 districts witnessed widespread violence, looting of ballots papers, and rigging. There were several reports of booth capturing, damaging of ballot boxes, and assault of presiding officers from several districts including Murshidabad, Cooch Behar, Malda, South 24 Parganas, North Dinajpur, and Nadia.
Violence and casualties
Several people were killed in election-related violence as three-tier panchayat voting was underway in West Bengal on Saturday.
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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers claimed that Trinamool Congress (TMC) members would not allow them to enter voting booths which resulted in clashes and the death of people including BJP polling agent Madhab Biswas.
Incidents of attacks and deaths of TMC workers have also been reported by the police as well as a case of one supporter of an independent candidate being attacked overnight.
The Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, reported a total of 19 deaths during the panchayat polls, while MP Ravi Shankar Prasad claimed that over 12 people lost their lives in clashes across the state.
So far at least 15 deaths have been confirmed. Among those who were killed, six were reportedly TMC workers and there was at least one worker casualty each of the BJP, CPI(M), Congress, and ISF.
Many allegations have gone back and forth as to how these deaths occurred during the election.
A Congress-CPI(M) alliance worker who was shot, claimed that the TMC was unleashing violence as it had believed that the Congress-CPI(M) alliance would do well in Cooch Behar.
Along with the deaths, there were also incidents of destruction of ballot boxes and intimidation of voters reported in some areas.
The police also said that they received information about bombs and weapons that had been stockpiled to create disturbance during polling for panchayats in the district. The search operation for these bombs had been underway before the elections.
Protests turned violent
Protests erupted across West Bengal, with BJP supporters demonstrating outside the SEC office in Kolkata. They were dissatisfied with what they considered the commission's inability to conduct peaceful elections.
Congress workers also staged protests, blocking highways in Malda and Murshidabad districts, highlighting the violence and irregularities during the polls.
Two cars were set on fire in Uttar Dinajpur and several other vehicles including state buses were vandalised as protest became violent in the Chakulia police station.
Incidents of violence included a person being fatally injured by a crude explosive in South 24 Parganas district and allegations of TMC workers shooting three BJP party members in Cooch Behar's Dinhata.
At Amdanga in North 24 Parganas, clashes broke out between ISF and TMC supporters with crude bombs being hurled during the clashes.
Violence was also reported from the district's Samserganj area where two groups clashed with crude bombs.
Reports of clashes also came from the district's Kulpi area as supporters of an Independent candidate and TMC workers clashed in Udairampur village. When police reached the area, women also protested with sticks.
Criticism of the ruling party and protests
According to media reports, the violence witnessed during the polling for the panchayats was described as unprecedented and surpassed previous incidents of political clashes in Bengal. The scale of violence and the loss of lives led to a lot of criticism of Mamata Banerjee government.
Union Minister Nisith Pramanik heavily criticised the Mamata Banerjee government, describing the single-phased polls as a "festival of death" rather than a celebration of democracy. He expressed concern that the government would not provide an accurate official count of the fatalities, indicating a lack of transparency and accountability.
"All the lives lost, the bloodshed caused during yesterday’s #PanchayatElection2023 in #WestBengal is a consequence of the failure of Mamata Banerjee’s leadership and non-existence of law and order. The blood of these innocent people is on the hands of TMC govt," he said in a tweet.
All the lives lost, the bloodshed caused during yesterday’s #PanchayatElection2023 in #WestBengal is a consequence of failure of Mamata Banerjee’s leadership and non existence of law and order. The blood of these innocent people is on the hands of TMC govt.
— Nisith Pramanik (@NisithPramanik) July 9, 2023
Re-polling scheduled for July 10
Amidst the protests, the West Bengal SEC announced that re-polling would take place on July 10 in 697 booths where voting had been deemed void.
The SEC, after a meeting on Sunday evening, went through reports of vote-tampering and violence which affected polling in many places, and passed the order. Adding that at least four central police personnel and four state's armed police would be posted at each of these booths where re-polling was taking place.
These re-polls aimed to rectify irregularities and ensure a fair electoral process in light of reports of vote tampering, violence, and booth capturing surfaced from various districts. The SEC added that the scale of violence was not the reason for the re-polling.
Results are expected on Tuesday, July 11.
Re-polling
The deployment of central forces during the re-polling provided a sense of security and relief to the voters.
Their presence was acknowledged by the electorate in Murshidabad, who expressed happiness over the central forces' involvement.
However, sporadic incidents of violence and clashes continued even during the re-polling, leading to further disruptions.
In response to the widespread violence, West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose has traveled to New Delhi to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah and submit a report on the situation. The meeting, as reported by ANI, will take place today evening at North Block in Delhi. The governor aims to address the issue and shed light on the violence that unfolded during the panchayat elections.
