Panchayat poll violence: Happenings in West Bengal under CM Banerjee frightening, says Digvijaya

Bhopal: Against the backdrop of violence in Panchayat polls in West Bengal, senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Monday said the happenings under the watch of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee are “frightening and unpardonable”.

“What is happening in Panchayat Polls in Bengal is frightening. I have been an admirer of Mamata of her grit and determination but what is happening is unpardonable. We know you bravely faced a similar situation in the CPM rule but what is happening now is not good for our Democracy,” Digvijaya Singh tweeted on Monday morning.

Notably, comments of Singh, a Rajya Sabha member, came amid efforts by the Opposition to form a united bloc to take on BJP in the next Lok Sabha elections.

On June 23, Opposition parties, including Congress and Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress, met in Patna. That meeting was attended by Banerjee, AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi among others.

Polling was held on Saturday in West Bengal in more than 61,000 booths for the three-tier panchayat elections. In several places, ballot boxes were looted, set on fire and thrown in ponds, leading to violence.

Fresh polling was underway on Monday at 696 booths in 19 districts of the state where voting for the panchayat elections was declared void.

The decision for repolling was announced after reviewing reports of violence and tampering with ballot boxes and ballot papers, officials said.