At least 11 people have died and many others were hurt in poll-related violence in West Bengal during Panchayat elections on Saturday. Revoting for the West Bengal panchayat election started at 7 am and will go till 5 pm under strict security, with four central force members stationed in each booth.
since midnight as voting was underway on Saturday for the three-tier panchayat polls in the state. Among those killed were five TMC members, one worker each of the BJP, CPI(M) and Congress, and the supporter of an Independent candidate. In addition to the violent fights that resulted in several injuries, at least two polling places had vote boxes damaged.
A day after the State Election Commission declared the panchayat elections in these 19 districts in West Bengal invalid due to allegations of ballot box tampering and violent crime that left at least 19 people dead, voters are once again casting their ballots in as many as 696 booths on Monday.
A total of 5.67 crore people living in the state’s rural areas were eligible to decide the fate of 2.06 lakh candidates in 73,887 seats of the panchayat system
Re-voting was also taking place at 89 booths in Nadia. Cooch Behar was next with 53, North 24 Parganas with 46, Uttar Dinajpur with 42, South 24 Parganas with 36, Purba Medinipur with 31 and Hooghly with 29 booths.
After assessing claims of violence and tampering with vote boxes and ballot papers, the SEC decided to rerun the election in these 696 booths on Sunday night.
West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose met people
Condemning the violent incidents, he said: “It should cause concern to all of us. This is the most sacred day for democracy… The election must be through ballots and not bullets…” Amid reports claiming the absence of Central forces at some polling booths, State Election Commissioner Rajiva Sinha sought details on the number and the position of the personnel from all the district magistrates.
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