Amidst unprecedented incidents of violence, arson, looting, and tampering with Ballot boxes during Panchayat elections in West Bengal, Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) on Monday, July 10 constituted a four-member fact-finding committee to visit the violence-affected areas in the state.
The committee will be headed by former Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. The other three BJP MPs who will constitute the fact-finding committee are Mumbai police commissioner and Baghpat MP Satyapal Singh, Silchar MP Rajdeep Roy and Dhaurahara MP and party vice-president Rekha Verma.
BJP constitutes a four-member fact-finding committee to visit the violence-affected areas in West Bengal pic.twitter.com/jd2N9NTz7S
— ANI (@ANI) July 10, 2023
Reports quote official sources as confirming that the delegation will reach West Bengal on July 11 and has been asked to submit its report at the earliest.
The development came just before West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose is set to submit a report on the violence that took place during the panchayat elections in the State to the Union HM Amit Shah.
A festival of death: Union Minister Nisith Pramanik on WB panchayat polls
Meanwhile, speaking about the mayhem that was unleashed in the state during the recently concluded Panchayat polls, Union Minister Nisith Pramanik slammed the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government for its abject failure to maintain law and order in the state. Coming down heavily on the ruling dispensation, Nishith Pramanik said the single-phased polls in West Bengal were not a festival of the republic but a festival of death.
Speaking to ANI, Pramanik said the Trinamool Congress government will not even put out an accurate official count of deaths that took place across the state since the date for the panchayat polls was notified.
The BJP leader, who himself hails from North Bengal, said, “This (the deaths and electoral violence) should not have happened. Elections are a festival of the republic but this time, the panchayat elections in Bengal turned out to be a festival of death. The state government will not even come out with official data on the number of people who lost their lives since the panchayat elections in Bengal were announced.”
He added that while political violence and clashes during elections were nothing new in Bengal, the scale of violence seen during the polling for the panchayats on Saturday was ‘unprecedented’.
The Union Minister also posted a video on Twitter on July 9, to share the pathetic state of the family members of those who fell prey to the political violence in West Bengal. “I am deeply pained to witness the misery of the People of #WestBengal, the barbaric behaviour by TMC for people who show their dissent to TMC’s violence and corruption. These tears will not stop, our fight will not stop, our wounds won’t heal until TMC goons are punished,” Pramanik tweeted as he shared a video of a beleaguered woman weeping inconsolably and narrating her trauma and pleading for justice after her father was killed in the state’s unprecedented outbreak of violence
I am deeply pained to witness the misery of the People of #WestBengal , the barbaric behaviour by TMC for people who show their dissent to TMC’s violence and corruption. These tears will not stop, our fight will not stop, our wounds won’t heal until TMC goons are punished. pic.twitter.com/3VyEZNHlgo
— Nisith Pramanik (@NisithPramanik) July 9, 2023
BJP demands President’s rule in West Bengal
Meanwhile, BJP leader and LoP Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday demanded President’s rule in Bengal. The former TMC leader who joined BJP said he was not bothered about what the people in Delhi think asserting President’s rule is the only solution to violent incidents.
Repolling to be held at 600 booths after reports of violence and tampering with Ballot boxes
After widespread reports of violence, arson, looting, and tampering with Ballot boxes during Panchayat elections, the State Election Commission on Sunday evening, 9 July, announced to hold re-polling in Purulia, Birbhum, Jalpaiguri, and South 24 Parganas districts of West Bengal.
As per the information received, the Bengal State Election Commission has ordered re-polling in those booths where the voting was declared void. The SEC further announced that a fresh poll will be held on Monday, that is tomorrow, 10th of July from 7 am to 5 pm.
According to the announcement, re-polling will be held in 604 booths for the Panchayat elections.
15 people killed during WB Panchayat polls
Violent incidents that took place in several districts killed as many as 15 people drawing severe criticism on law and order issues. After numerous incidences of politically motivated incidences of violence, arson, and killings of party workers, the State BJP President Dr Sukanta Majumdar had to write a letter to Home Minister Amit Shah to intervene and restore democracy in West Bengal.
