Bengal rural polls: TMC, Oppn, Centre, BSF play blame game as toll rises to 20

The death toll in violence related to panchayat polls in West Bengal climbed to 20 by Saturday (July 9) night when a Trinamool Congress worker was allegedly stabbed to death in Malda’s Baishnavnagar.

TMC worker Matiur Rahman was reportedly surrounded and stabbed to death by a gang at a polling station when he went to cast his vote. TMC has claimed the assailants were Congress activists.

Six persons were also injured in the attack which the police are probing.

In South 24-Parganas’ Basanti, 10 people were injured in a clash between TMC and the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP). The condition of a TMC worker is reportedly critical.

Also read: BJP looking for alternative to ‘Jai Shri Ram’ in Bengal, other eastern states

West Bengal rural polls were marked by widespread violence, with booths being captured, ballot boxes being vandalized, presiding officers being assaulted, and bombs being hurled in several villages in Murshidabad, Cooch Behar, Malda, South 24-Parganas, North Dinajpur, and Nadia districts.

All parties have made allegations against each other, with the BJP calling for President’s Rule in the state and a re-poll at several booths. All opposition parties in the state, including the BJP, CPM, and Congress, have blamed the TMC government for the violence.

#WATCH | Police baton charge BJP workers protesting against alleged ballot rigging at Srikrishnapur in Nandakumar block of East Medinipur, following voting in West Bengal Panchayat polls yesterday pic.twitter.com/5pSiXng7M8

— ANI (@ANI) July 9, 2023

Home ministry, BSF blame SEC

According to central home ministry sources, no violence was reported from the sensitive booths where the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) were deployed.

Media reports quoted ministry sources as saying that the Bengal State Election Commission (SEC) asked for 825 companies of CAPF, of which 649 were sent. The remaining are still on their way.

The ministry has attributed the delay to non-cooperation from the SEC. The SEC allegedly submitted the requisition late. Also, it allegedly did not share the locations for the deployment and instructed the DMs to handle it instead.

The Border Security Force (BSF), too, has alleged that despite repeated requests, the SEC did not provide any information on sensitive booths. SS Guleria, DIG BSF, has alleged that the BSF wrote several letters to the SEC seeking such information but it came only on June 7, that too only the number of such booths with no other detail.

Also read: Bengal’s panchayat polls marred by violence, 12 dead; allegations of strong-arm tactics

Guleria has said the BSF was deployed at the behest of the local administration. He has alleged that 59,000 CAPF troops and state armed police from 25 states came but were not properly deployed at the sensitive booths.

According to Guleria, the number of sensitive booths was much higher than the 4,834 declared by the state and where the CAPF was deployed.

West Bengal | Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury meets family members of a party worker who was allegedly killed during violence that ensued during Panchayat polls, in Murshidabad pic.twitter.com/MLNlhqNLBu

— ANI (@ANI) July 9, 2023

TMC blames central forces

The ruling TMC, on the other hand, has rubbished the allegation of “widespread violence” and claimed that only 60 of the 61,000 booths reported violence. The party has alleged that the opposition parties specifically targeted non-sensitive booths to cause a disturbance.

Party leader Shashi Panja has blamed the central forces for failing to control the violence, questioning their ability as well as motives. Panja alleged that the central forces, including the BSF, were caught on camera threatening voters and ordering them to vote for a certain party.

Along with fellow part leaders Kunal Ghosh and Bratya Basu, Panja condemned the violence in a press conference. They claimed the Opposition and their henchmen in the media were “marketing violence” to show the party down.

Ghosh gave the credit for the “largely peaceful and fair polls” to the people. He pointed out that since most of the deaths reported were of TMC workers, it made no sense to say that TMC instigated the violence.

Also read: Bengal poll violence: Governor sends sealed envelope after SEC fails to meet him

While Governor Dr CV Ananda Bose condemned the violence, saying the situation was “very, very disturbing”, the TMC leaders accused him of fanning the violence and abusing his power to influence people’s opinions.

The Governor visited the violence-hit areas and interacted with the victims. However, Basu said the Governor had selectively visited victims from Opposition parties.

State Election Commissioner Rajiva Sinha has promised to investigate the charges of vote tampering and decide on possible re-polling in some booths.

The Bengal rural polls have left 30 dead since it was announced earlier last month. The 2018 panchayat election, too, was violent with about as many left dead.

(With agency inputs)