Lagatar24 Desk
Kolkata, July 8: As voting for the West Bengal panchayat elections got underway on Saturday, at least 11 persons were killed in election-related violence.
Seven Trinamool Congress (TMC) members, two members of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), and one member from each of the BJP and Congress were among the victims.
Three TMC members and a Congress worker were killed in Murshidabad, while Cooch Behar saw the deaths of two people (one each from the BJP and TMC). In East Burdwan, two workers—one from CPI(M) and one from TMC—were killed.
One TMC member died in Malda and another TMC member died in South 24 Parganas.
For the West Bengal panchayat elections, in which 5.67 crore individuals who live in the state’s rural areas are eligible to vote, voting began at 7 am on Saturday under tight security.
TMC employee Babar Ali killed in the Kapasdanga neighbourhood of Murshidabad district, one of the most afflicted by violence. When he was taken to Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital in Baharampur, he was pronounced dead.
A crude bomb explosion in Rejinagar, Murshidabad district, claimed the life of a TMC employee on Friday. In the district of Khargram, a second Trinamool worker was fatally stabbed.
Rahul Sinha, a BJP leader, responded to the violence that marred the panchayat elections by calling them a “farce in the name of election.”
“When the Election Commission and government collude and take a decision that the ruling TMC loot the election, then what is happening now will happen. Central forces came here but they were not sent to booths… The TMC is attacking the BJP and other parties. It seems to be a farce in the name of election. We can’t call this an election for the people,” Sinha said.
In response to the cries for the deployment of central forces in the state amid the unrest, the TMC criticized the opposition parties. The party inquired as to the whereabouts of the central forces sent for the elections.
Voter intimidation and ballot box destruction incidents were also reported from various regions.
