Hyderabad: Political temperatures continue to soar in West Bengal as security forces fought hard to contain political violence in South 24 Parganas' Bhangar area where gunshots were heard and bombs flew on the day of filing nomination for the three-tier Panchayat Polls due on July 8.
On Tuesday, Bhangar in South 24 Parganas district turned into a battlefield where violent clashes between activists of the Trinamool Congress and the All India Secular Front (AISF) were reported. Eyewitnesses said the ongoing clashes erupted in front of the Block Development Office as candidates of the two parties reached there to file their respective nominations. First, heavy brick batting began and subsequently started heavy bombing from both sides. Tuesday is the fourth day of nomination and like the previous three days, reports of violence have come from different pockets of the state with the one in Bhangar being the most serious of all.
Sources said a huge police contingent which reached the spot confronted violent clashes between supporters of both parties. Security personnel were not spared as supporters of TMC and ISF started hurling bricks, stones and crude bombs towards the security personnel. The intensity of the attack was so high that police forces had to initially retreat with a couple of security personnel being injured in the attack.
Ultimately, police had to resort to lathi-charge and firing of teargas shells to save themselves and contain the violent party men. The leaderships of both Trinamool Congress and AISF have traded accusations other over the development. On one hand, the AISF leadership has claimed that the clashes broke out as the ruling party activities tried to resist their candidates from filing the nomination.
On the other hand, the Trinamool Congress leadership has accused AISF activists of launching unprovoked attacks on the ruling party candidates. Police have arrested some persons in relation to the development. Till the time the report was filed the situation continued to be tense at Bhangar with sporadic incidents of clashes being reported.
Meanwhile, taking note of the violence, the Calcutta High Court directed the deployment of central armed forces personnel in sensitive seven districts for the forthcoming West Bengal panchayat polls. A division bench of Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya directed the West Bengal State Election Commission to review whether the deployment of central forces is required elsewhere other than the seven districts identified as sensitive.
"The State Election Commission should ensure polls in a peaceful ambience. The commission should deploy central armed forces. There is a deficit in the state police forces. So deployment of central forces is necessary to ensure free and fair polls. The Union government also should provide the necessary forces as demanded by the state government," the division bench observed.
It also said that the Union government will have to bear the expenses for the deployment of the central forces. The hearing in the matter was completed on Monday but the bench reserved its order. Finally, on late Tuesday afternoon, the verdict was pronounced. The division bench, however, refused to interfere with the Commission's decision about the extension of the period of nomination for the rural civic body polls. It also turned down the plea for the polls to be conducted under the supervision of a retired judge of the Calcutta High Court.
It also said that the CCTVs should be installed in each and every polling booth and if necessary the entire polling process should be video-recorded. The court gave clear instructions to the state government and the State Election Commission not to use civic volunteers in poll-related security duties at any cost.
The high court observed that in case of extreme necessity, contractual state government employees can be deployed in other poll-related duties. All the opposition parties had been demanding the deployment of central armed forces since the day the polling and counting dates were announced by State Election Commissioner Rajiva Sinha.
