Several people killed as West Bengal's rural areas vote in panchayat polls

Kolkata: Several people were killed in election-related violence in West Bengal as voting was underway on Saturday for the three-tier panchayat polls in the state, officials said.

The polling started at 7 am in 73,887 seats in the rural areas of the state with 5.67 crore people deciding the fate of around 2.06 lakh candidates, they said.

BJP polling agent Madhab Biswas was allegedly killed in Falimari gram panchayat in Coochbehar district, they said.

The BJP alleged that when Biswas tried to enter the polling booth he was stopped by TMC supporters, and as the situation escalated, they killed him. The TMC denied the allegations.

The supporter of an Independent candidate died in Kadambagachi area in North 24 Paraganas district after he was beaten up overnight, police said.

The deceased was identified as 41-year-old Abdullah. He died while undergoing treatment at a local hospital in the morning, Superintendent of Police Bhaskar Mukherjee said.

Protesting against the killing, locals blocked the Taki Road in the early hours but they were removed by the police.

A TMC worker was killed in Murshidabad district's Kapasdanga area overnight in poll-related violence. The deceased was identified as Babar Ali, officials said.

The ruling TMC said that two of its workers were killed in Rejinagar and Khargram in Murshidabad district, and another person in Tufanganj in Coochbehar district.

"The polling started peacefully, but Congress, BJP and CPI(M) are attacking TMC workers since last night. Three of our workers have died in Rejinagar, Tufanganj and Khargram. And, two of our workers were injured in Domkal. Where are the central forces?" TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh asked.

The brother of a TMC leader was killed in a clash with Congress supporters in Malda district, police said.

The incident happened in Jisharattola in Manikchak police station area. The deceased was identified as Malek Sheikh, they said.

The TMC alleged that the husband of one of its candidates was shot at in Nadia district's Narayanpur area by CPI(M) supporters, a charge denied by the opposition party.

Allegations of attempts to loot ballot boxes and attack on voters were made by all the parties. Clashes were also reported from other parts of the state.

CPI(M) state secretary Md Salim shared a video of open ballot boxes lying in the field, tweeting, "Vote is over! Condition of the ballots, ballot boxes in one of the booths. Btw this pic is from Diamond Harbour." At least 600 companies of central forces have been deployed for the elections along with around 70,000 state police.

Sharing a video on Twitter, BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar alleged that ballot boxes were set ablaze at a booth in Coochbehar district with poll officials having fled the scene.

Governor CV Ananda Bose visited parts of the North 24 Parganas district and interacted with the people.

There are 63,229 gram panchayat seats and 9,730 panchayat samiti seats in 22 districts, while 928 zilla parishad seats in 20 districts as Darjeeling and Kalimpong have a two-tier system with Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) and Siliguri Sub-divisional Council at the top.

Long queues outside polling booths were seen as early as 6 am with people turning out early amid the intermittent rains.

The ruling TMC is contesting all the 928 seats in zilla parishads, 9,419 seats in panchayat samitis and 61,591 seats in gram panchayats. The BJP has fielded candidates in 897 zilla parishad seats, 7,032 panchayat samiti seats and 38,475 seats in gram panchayats.

The CPI(M) is fighting 747 zilla parishad seats, 6,752 panchayat samiti seats and 35,411 gram panchayat seats. The Congress is contesting 644 zilla parishad seats, 2,197 panchayat samiti seats and 11,774 gram panchayat seats.