New Delhi: Governor C.V. Anand Bose stated on Tuesday that violence and corruption were the two main enemies of Bengal as the ruling Trinamool Congress appeared to be winning the panchayat elections.
Bose, who has faced criticism from the Trinamool, emphasized that “political parties should understand that elections are not a measure of physical strength.”
Vote counting for nearly 74,000 panchayat seats began with tight security on Tuesday morning. The counting was held at 339 venues spread across the state’s 22 districts.
By 5.30 pm, the Trinamool was leading in 18,332 gram panchayat seats, while the BJP was leading in 4,592 seats out of the 63,329 gram panchayats, according to the Election Commission.
Simultaneous vote counting was also taking place for 928 zila parishads and 9,728 panchayat samitis.
The opposition BJP accused the state of sponsoring violence and claimed that 45 people have died during the election process.
Party spokesperson Sambit Patra referred to these killings as “institutional murders.”
On the polling day, July 8, there was widespread violence and allegations of tampering with ballot boxes, resulting in the deaths of 13 people.
To address the violence, repolling was conducted in 696 booths across 19 districts on Monday, where voting was declared void due to the violence.
Following the repolling, Governor Bose met with Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Bose stated that an appropriate decision would be communicated to the media at the appropriate time and in an appropriate manner.
He added, “Violence exists, and it needs to be contained. It should be a collective effort. While it may not be resolved overnight, the process must continue. We will relentlessly campaign against violence in society.”
On the other hand, the Trinamool accused the Governor of fueling violence and abusing his power to influence public opinion. Leader Kunal Ghosh expressed his concern that Bose selectively visited victims from opposition parties despite the majority of deaths being those of Trinamool workers.
Meanwhile, a committee of BJP parliamentarians, led by former law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, is expected to visit Bengal to investigate cases of violence and present a report to party president J.P. Nadda.
Former Mumbai police commissioner Satyapal Singh, Rajdeep Roy, and party vice-president Rekha Verma are the other members of the “fact-finding” committee.
Also read: BJP claims at least 45 killed in Bengal panchayat polls, terms Mamata Banerjee ‘ruthless’