West Bengal Panchayat Polls : In A Violent Poll, Ruling TMC, BJP, Congress Trade Charges

Picture : Twitter/ ANI

The ruling TMC accused the Opposition of orchestrating violence during the panchayat polls in West Bengal, while asserting that the party will emerge victorious in a majority of the seats when the votes are counted on July 11.

Dismissing allegations of the state administration letting loose a reign of terror, state minister Bratya Basu claimed that it is the Trinamool Congress which has been at the “receiving end of the violence perpetuated by the opposition”.

“Of the 22 districts that went to rural polls, no incident of violence was reported in 16. Of the nearly 61,000 booths, incidents were reported in only 60. So, one can ascertain the ratio of violence in comparison with the areas where polls were held peacefully. It is lesser than one per cent,” another minister, Shashi Panja, said.

The BJP slammed the violence , former Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad quoted by ANI said , More than a dozen have been killed during West Bengal panchayat polls and many injured…BJP condemns this reckless violence in Bengal…”.

West Bengal BJP President Dr Sukanta Majumdar wrote a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah requesting to restore democracy in the state after it witnessed violence during the Panchayat poll.

“…When common voters are going to participate in the polling, police were resorting to lathi charges…to disperse the voters…The situation in the state and particularly in Murshidabad is very tense and hostile…I want to ask CM Mamata Banerjee what kind of democracy to you want? Your hands are full of bloodshed. Blood-stained Panchayat was not necessary in Bengal…,” says West Bengal Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.