West Bengal panchayat elections- Bullets, bombs kill 3- top 10 developments Voting for the West Bengal Panchayat polls 2018 began at 7 am on Monday and will continue until 5 pm. The counting will take place on May 17. Catch the latest developments here
The single-phase West Bengal panchayat election is underway amid tight security. Several reports of clashes have emerged from various districts in which dozens of people have been injured. Further, violence broke out in North 24 Parganas, Burdwan, Coochbehar, and South 24 Parganas districts, killing three people and injuring at least 21.Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have accused each other of the violence.It is the last major election in the state before next year's Lok Sabha elections.With 40 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats located in the districts, political parties are viewing Monday's polls as a warm-up match ahead of the 2019 general elections. The three-tier panchayat polls are being held in the state after a protracted legal battle in the Kolkata High Court and the Supreme Court involving the state election commission, the TMC, and opposition parties.In North 24 Parganas, a Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPM, worker and his wife were charred to death after their house was torched on Sunday night.
Here are the top developments on the panchayat polls currently underway in West Bengal: 1) TMC worker shot dead: A TMC worker named Arif Gazi was on Monday shot dead in Kultali area of South 24 Parganas district, news agencies reported. 2) Deaths in Nadia, North 24 Parganas district: A person named Taibur Gayen on Monday was killed and two others were injured after crude bombs were hurled at them, allegedly by TMC supporters, reported Hindustan Times. 3) BJP candidate from Bilkanda attacked with a knife: BJP's Bilkanda candidate Raju Biswas was injured after being attacked with a knife, allegedly by TMC workers, news agencies reported. 4) Voting stopped in Shikarpur in Jalpaiguri: The state election commission has stopped voting in a booth in Shikarpur in Jalpaiguri district where ballot boxes were set on fire. 5) Violence across West Bengal: Violence was reported from various parts of West Bengal as the polling for the single-phase panchayat election was underway on Monday.Within less than two hours after the polling began, the state election commission received complaints of violence from at least four districts from different parts the state and asked the police to take action, officials said. 6) BJP, TMC blame each other for violence: The opposition CPI(M) and BJP have accused the TMC of terrorising voters and hurling bombs outside polling stations in Burdwan district.In North 24 Parganas, the BJP accused the ruling TMC of letting loose a reign of terror in several parts of the district, especially in Amdanga area. 7) Twenty injured in clashes at Cooch Behar: Twenty people were injured in a clash that broke out between two groups in Cooch Behar. "We went there to vote but people belonging to TMC attacked us with sticks," locals told news agency ANI. 8) Tripura Governor calls for peaceful panchayat polls in Bengal: Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy on Sunday expressed hope that the people of West Bengal will be able to cast their vote peacefully during Monday's panchayat polls.Roy, a former president of the BJP's West Bengal unit and a former member of the BJP's national executive, on the sidelines of an event in Kolkata, told reporters that people should be allowed to cast their vote without difficulty. 9) Roads blocked by locals in Bhangar: Accusing TMC workers of booth capturing, locals blocked a road in Bhangar in protest. 10) BJP supporter allegedly slapped by state minister: In a video tweeted by news agency ANI, West Bengal Minister and TMC leader Rabindra Nath Ghosh was seen slapping a man near a poll booth.
Catch the latest developments here