West Bengal Governor condemns violence in Panchayat polls

Panchayat polls in West Bengal drew towards a bloody finish as at least 18 people died, bombs exploded and all parties levelled allegations of strongarm tactics against their rivals on Saturday.

Kolkata:West Bengal Governor Dr C V Ananda Bose has condemned the incidents of violence across the state during the panchayat polls held on Saturday, July 8 and described the situation as "very, very disturbing".

Bose, who visited different places in North and South 24 Parganas districts, said "What I have seen in the field is very disturbing. There is violence, murder, and intimidation. One thing I noticed is that it is the poor who are getting killed. Leaders are not there."

"So, who is driving them? They should kill poverty instead of trying to kill the poor. This is very very disturbing. This is not what Bengal wants or deserves. This is very disturbing that the lack of peace in society will affect the new generation," Bose told reporters after returning to the Raj Bhavan here.

"We should establish peace at any cost. The initiative, which I have started at the Raj Bhavan, is not meant for election alone. It's going to be a continuous exercise. We should work together to see that peace and harmony are reestablished in society," he said.

Panchayat polls in West Bengal drew towards a bloody finish as at least 18 people died, bombs exploded and all parties levelled allegations of strongarm tactics against their rivals on Saturday. Among those killed, eight belonged to the ruling TMC and one worker each of the BJP, CPI(M), Congress and ISF who died since midnight in the crucial three-tier panchayat polls, officials said.

Among flashpoints were Murshidabad, Nadia and Cooch Behar districts besides pockets in South 24 Parganas such as Bhangar and in Purba Medinipur's Nandigram.

Bose said that he would send a report on his experience of the panchayat election to the "concerned authority". Asked whether his report would contain any recommendation for action, Bose said, "I will do what the Governor does."

On Saturday, Bose visited the residence of a person who was injured in a bomb attack in North 24 Parganas' Barasat-I subdivision. After interacting with the family members of the injured at Pirgachha, Bose went to the hospital in Barasat where the person is undergoing treatment and talked to doctors.

Bose, who was supposed to travel to Nadia district, was stopped near Basudebpur on Kalyani Expressway by supporters of the BJP and CPI(M), who complained about "vote looting" and urged him to take action. He tried to contact officials of the state election commission and police but could not succeed because of mobile connectivity issues, officials said. He later stopped at a rest house at Kamarhati from where he called officials to take stock of the situation.

The Governor further said he is likely to go out again and pay surprise visits to different panchayat areas. A total of 2.06 lakh candidates were in the fray for elections to 73,887 seats in the three-tier panchayat system in the state.

The ruling TMC is contesting all the 928 seats in zilla parishads, 9,419 seats in panchayat samitis and 61,591 seats in gram panchayats. The BJP has fielded candidates in 897 zilla parishad seats, 7,032 panchayat samiti seats and 38,475 seats in gram panchayats. The CPI(M) is fighting 747 zilla parishad seats, 6,752 panchayat samiti seats and 35,411 gram panchayat seats. The Congress is contesting 644 zilla parishad seats, 2,197 panchayat samiti seats and 11,774 gram panchayat seats.