Panchayat polls: Violence continues on second day of nomination filing

PTI, Kolkata, Jun 10, 2023 :  Incidents of violence continued on the second day of nomination filing for West Bengal panchayat polls on Saturday, with a TMC worker allegedly shot at in a clash and opposition BJP, Congress and CPI(M) claiming their candidates were prevented by ruling party activists from submitting papers.

TMC worker Litton Haque (30) was seriously injured in a clash in Dinhata area in Cooch Behar district on Saturday evening, with his family alleging he was shot at by members of a rival faction, while police claiming he was beaten up during a brawl over a property dispute but no shots were fired.

Haque’s cousin brother and TMC worker Bappa Haque told reporters that Litton was shot at by activists of a rival TMC faction which opposed the candidature of their relative Babla Haque for a local gram panchayat seat.

TMC leader Partha Pratim Roy said also claimed Haque was injured in a property dispute, not a political clash.

“While the candidate list is yet to announced, how come the story of two factions clashing over nomination pops up? What I have heard is that it was a dispute between two families over a property,” Roy said, while asserting that the TMC was not related to the incident.

BJP state spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said claimed that it was a case of factional fighting within the TMC over panchayat poll nomination and “more such incidents will be reported if the administration does not take firm action”.

Meanwhile, a mob barged into a Block Development Office in South 24 Parganas district and assaulted an employee allegedly for distributing nomination forms to opposition candidates, while a local Trinamool Congress leader was caught with a handgun in Murshidabad district.

The TMC, however, trashed the charges saying the nomination filing process was by and large incident-free and the opposition was making false charges as they are sure about the imminent loss in the panchayat polls having very little support base among the rural populace.

A State Election Commission (SEC) official told PTI, “Action has been taken on the basis of receiving every report and the nomination process was going on smoothly across the state.” The official said that as many as 1,360 nomination papers were filed on the first day across the state, and the process was smooth barring “some stray incidents” in a few pockets.

A Congress activist was shot dead on Friday, the first day of nomination filing, in Murshidabad district allegedly by TMC activists, a charge denied by the ruling party.

On the second day, incidents of violence and scuffling between workers of the ruling and opposition parties were reported in Bankura, Purba and Paschim Bardhaman, Birbhum and Murshidabad districts.

At Domkal in Murshidabad, opposition parties alleged that TMC activists were seen moving around with firearms near the BDO office, where nomination papers will be filed, and obstructing their candidates.

Civic volunteers were seen with lathis along with the police to control disturbances in Domkal.

Besides, BJP claimed its nominees were manhandled by TMC workers at Labhpur in Birbhum district.

Similar reports of violence came from Bishnupur in Bankura, Katwa in Purba Bardhaman, and Babarani in Paschim Bardhaman district, where CPI(M) candidates were allegedly prevented from filing their nomination papers by the TMC.

“There had been some stray incidents in the morning. But once we got the information, we alerted the police and remedial measures were taken. The process went on smoothly later on.

“On Friday, the number of nominations filed by the combined opposition was slightly higher than the number of nominations filed by the TMC,” the SEC official said.

Opposition BJP demanded immediate deployment of central forces to conduct the panchayat polls while the TMC asserted that the opposition is hunting for excuses fearing defeat.

BJP state spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said, “We have been asking for the deployment of central forces from the very beginning, but the partisan State Election Commission is yet to hear our pleas.” “Civic volunteers wearing police uniforms are now deployed to oversee the nomination filing process and ruling party miscreants are getting a free run. This is in blatant violation of the law. The TMC does not want the opposition to field candidates anywhere,” he said.

TMC Rajya Sabha member and party spokesperson Shantanu Sen said the opposition had faced severe drubbing in the 2021 assembly polls and several assembly and one Lok Sabha by-elections, all of which were conducted in the presence of central forces.

“People of Bengal are solidly behind the TMC and not with the BJP, Congress or the CPI(M). The opposition may demand deployment of peacekeeping force from the United Nations in panchayat polls if they want,” Sen said.

The panchayat polls will be held in the state on July 8.

The 2018 rural poll process was marred by violence and alleged malpractices in several districts.