West Bengal Panchayat polls violence: Governor likely to meet Amit Shah; repolling begins in 696 booths Kolkata/New Delhi: In view of the widespread violence that erupted during the Panchayat polls in West Bengal, Governor CV Ananda Bose arrived in the national capital on Sunday (July 9) night and is likely to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Meanwhile, the repolling began on Monday (July 10) at 7 am in 696 booths where voting for the Panchayat elections has been declared void across five districts. The repolling will be held till 5 pm amid tight security with four central forces personnel deployed in each of those booths, besides state police. Among the districts where repolling was being held, violence-hit Murshidabad has the highest number of booths at 175, followed by Malda with 109.
Repolling was also being held at 89 booths in Nadia, followed by Cooch Behar (53), North 24 Parganas (46), Uttar Dinajpur (42), South 24 Parganas (36), Purba Medinipur (31) and Hooghly (29). According to officials, no repolling was ordered in Darjeeling, Jhargram, and Kalimpong districts.
Congress Member of Parliament (MP) Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had written to Inspector General BSF, Eastern Command, requesting him to deploy adequate forces to provide security to voters during re-polling.
Also read:Details of sensitive booths not provided: BSF after violence mars West Bengal Panchayat polls
As reported by ETV Bharat, at least 18 people were killed in violence during polling in West Bengal on Saturday. Among flashpoints were Murshidabad, Nadia, and Cooch Behar districts besides pockets in South 24 Parganas such as Bhangar and in Purba Medinipur's Nandigram. Governor Bose condemned the incidents of violence and described it as "very very disturbing"
On the polling day, Bose visited various places, mostly in North 24 Parganas district, and took stock of the situation. Incidentally, the governor visited places in West Bengal where people were killed during incidents of clashes between political parties in the run-up to the polls. Bose had visited Bhangar and Canning in South 24 Parganas district before meeting family members of a victim in Dinhata in Cooch Behar. He had also met the relatives of another deceased person in Basanti.
Earlier, West Bengal BJP state general secretary Jagannath Chattopadhyay wrote to the State Election Commission to declare the July 8 polling as void and hold fresh panchayat polls. The counting of votes will take place on Tuesday, July 11.
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.
Also read:Central forces deliberately not deployed: BJP; Violence-free polling not guaranteed even with forces: TMC
