Babul Supriyo slams TMC over West Bengal panchayat poll violence, says police controlled by ruling party

West Bengal BJP leader Babul Supriyo on Monday came down heavily on the Trinamool Congress (TMC) over panchayat poll violence in the state and said that the police were hand-in-glove with the ruling party in state, media reports said. Supriyo’s comments were a reaction to a BJP worker being attacked by a member of the TMC on Monday, India Today reported. However, TMC workers tweeted that the attack happened due to personal enmity and was not politically influenced.

#FactCheck There is a video of a woman being thrashed in #Bengal. Checked. The incident happened due to personal enmity. Nothing to do with the party or elections. #BJP made video viral to gain cheap political mileage. Condemn such brutes thrashing the woman : Derek

— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) April 9, 2018

Meanwhile, six policemen were injured on Monday when the BJP and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers clashed at Usti in South 24 Parganas district over filing of nominations for next month’s panchayat elections in West Bengal, the police said. The BJP on Monday warned the Trinamool Congress (TMC) that if the ruling party workers attacked BJP candidates during panchayat polls in the state, it would be paid back in the same coin. Earlier on Monday, the Supreme Court refused to intervene in the panchayat polls  on BJP’s plea, alleging that nomination papers are not being given to Opposition candidates. The top court, however, granted liberty to all candidates to approach the West Bengal state election commission for appropriate relief. [caption id=“attachment_1491591” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of BJP leader Babul Supriyo. IBNLive.[/caption] 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 early next month. One person was injured during the clash, police said. The same day, West Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh had said,“The panchayat polls will be a warm-up match  for us not only to galvanise party workers but also to reach out to the people against the TMC’s misrule ahead of 2019,” he said. On 1 April, Supriyo, who represents Asansol in the Lok Sabha, said, in a series of tweets, he wanted to resign from his post following the communal violence in Asansol but he was restrained from walking away by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a man “who leads by example”, Hindustan Times reported. Amid continuous clashes between workers of West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress workers and Opposition parties over filing nominations for upcoming panchayat polls, the state election commission had earlier expressed its concern and urged its officials to perform their duties, IANS said. With inputs from agencies