West Bengal panchayat polls: BJP to move SC seeking security for candidates following reports of violence

The Bharatiya Janta Party on Wednesday said that it will file a petition in Supreme Court seeking protection for its panchayat election candidates in West Bengal, media reports said.

#BREAKING -- BJP to move Supreme Court seeking security for Bengal Panchayat poll candidates in wake of violence in the state ahead of the elections | @Sougata_Mukh with more details pic.twitter.com/N2YofDWctf

— News18 (@CNNnews18) April 4, 2018

The party has alleged that their candidates are being constantly threatened by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers and stopped them from filing their nomination papers, CNN-News18 reported. State BJP president Dilip Ghosh said, “We will move the Supreme court so that the panchayat polls can be held in a free, fair and peaceful manner. We want deployment of central forces as the State Election Commission is totally incapable of holding free and fair polls.” BJP workers on Wednesdya also held a demonstration outside the state election commission office in Kolkata demanding free and fair elections. The panchayat polls  in West Bengal will be held in three phases on 1, 3 and 5 May. The panchayat election assumes significance as it is the last major poll in the state before the 2019 general elections. [caption id=“attachment_4399703” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AFP[/caption] However, right from the beginning, the election process has been marked by violence. According to India Today, on Tuesday, 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. 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. Violence was also reported from Hoogly and Coochbehar, the report added. In Malda, a 26-year-old youth was killed in a violent clash in Malda between the two factions of TMC over the nomination, The Economic Times reported. Following a complaint by the Opposition parties, Governor Kesari Nath Tripathi on Tuesday summoned senior government officials. Chief Secretary Malay Kumar De and Home Secretary Atri Bhattacharya were also asked to attend a meeting at Raj Bhawan. With inputs from PTI