West Bengal panchayat poll violence continues despite Calcutta High Court's intervention; parties play blame game

West Bengal continues to witness violence ahead of the panchayat polls which were earlier slated to be held in three phases on 1, 3 and 5 May — but were pushed back to 14 May after the Calcutta High Court stayed the polling process on petitions moved by the opposition parties. The Opposition including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) complained that they were not allowed to file nominations by alleged armed miscreants of Trinamool Congress (TMC). [caption id=“attachment_4345213” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] According to several media reports , BJP Murshidabad district president Gourishankar Ghosh and his supporters were beaten up with sticks when they visited the government BDO office to collect their nomination forms. Former Lok Sabha member Ram Chandra Dome was also attacked allegedly by TMC activists when he was leading a procession of party candidates to file nominations in Nalhati in Birbhum district. Whereas in Birbhum, a BJP leader was stabbed when he visited the magistrate’s office to complain about the lack of security for his party workers. Various instances of violence were also reported from districts like Hoogly, Coochbehar and North 24 Parganas. In Malda, a 26-year-old youth was killed in a violent clash between the two factions of TMC over nominations. There were also reports of a clash between Trinamool and CPM workers at Mayureshwar in Birbhum district after the Marxist candidates went in a group to file their nominations. Eight Trinamool workers were allegedly injured in a clash with Congress activists at Hariharpara in Murshidabad district. Later, police claimed to have seized weapons from the area Congress office. A TMC worker was shot dead inside his own house on 24 April because of the internal squabbling within the party. Several journalists were also assaulted and confined when they went to cover the clashes. Earlier on 8 April, in Birbhum district, bombs were hurled following a clash between the BJP and TMC workers over the filing of nominations for the Panchayat polls. The BJP, the CPM and the Congress alleged that their candidates were attacked by TMC activists also at Baruipur, Diamond Harbour and Bhangar — all in South 24 Parganas district. However, in North 24 Parganas District too an explosion occurred near Kolkata's Dum Dum Junction on 9 April wherein the police had discovered 29 crude bombs near the railway tracks. On the same day. six policemen were injured when the BJP and the TMC workers clashed at Usti in South 24 Parganas district over the filing of nominations. Houses of two Congress candidates were torched in the Ratua area in Malda district while nine more houses, reportedly of Congress supporters, were also set on fire. A few women candidates were also beaten up by a few TMC supporters in front of the SDO office, in South 24 Parganas. On 5 April, former MP and CPI(M) Central Committee member Ramachandra Dome was brutally attacked and he sustained a head injury while leading a group of candidates to file nominations at Nalhati in Birbhum district. Violence was also reported from Kandi in Murshidabad where a Congress rally led by State president and MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury was attacked by TMC workers. In Hooghly district’s Arambagh, former All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) MLA Biswanath Karak was heckled and assaulted by TMC cadres when he accompanied AIFB candidates during filing of nominations. Such violence had been going on since 1 April and does not seem to die down even as the election date approaches. Amid these continuous clashes, the state election commission had earlier expressed its concern and urged its officials to perform their duties. Whereas, the Left Front had called for a  six-hour general strike  in the state on 13 April to protest the “throttling of people’s rights” owing to the pre-panchayat election violence in the state. Going a step further, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had even demanded a President's Rule in the state . “Without imposing President’s rule, no one will be able to exercise their democratic right. This is the need of the hour”, Chowdhury told  ANI. Union minister Babul Supriyo, too, has voiced a similar demand citing the troubled situation in the state. Supriyo even  alleged that he was stopped from escorting his party workers to file nomination and that the  police is helping the ruling party. The Calcutta High Court had on 24 April directed the State Election Commission (SEC) on Tuesday to hold meaningful consultations with all stakeholders in West Bengal on security arrangements for the panchayat elections and additional force has also been called for patrolling on the polling day.