West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (WBPCC) president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Wednesday once again sat on a dharna outside the block office at Burwan in Murshidabad district to demand action against the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) activists who allegedly attacked the Congress workers during Panchayat polls nomination.
While talking to The Indian Express behind the reason of the protest, Chowdhury said, “Our candidates were prevented from submitting their symbol – the B form – on Tuesday. They were physically assaulted and the B forms snatched from them. The Congress will not be able to fight the (panchayat) elections in this block. In order to secure our right to fight the elections, I have been sitting in demonstration outside the block office since Tuesday.”
The Congress leader has also claimed that even before the elections were announced, TMC had unleashed a reign of terror across the state.
Ever since Panchayat elections were announced announced in the state on June 8, a series of violenct incidents and clashes between the party workers have been reported.
On the first day of filing nomination, Congress worker Fulchand Sheikh, 45, was shot dead in Murshidabad. It was followed by clashes between TMC, CPM and Congress workers as Congress and its ally CPM attacked TMC workers in Domkal in Murshidabad in the run up to the panchayat election. Congress alleged that the TMC was behind the murder of their party worker.
“The situation is terrible. During the last panchayat elections in 2018, the situation was similar. The last election was marred by bloodshed, murders and violence. We are witnessing the same situation this time also. We had approached the State Election Commission (SEC) and the High Court. We were fortunate that the High Court took our complaint very seriously…they took serious cognisance and directed the SEC to deploy central forces,” Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said, IE reported.
He further added, “The deployment of central forces is absolutely necessary for ensuring free and fair elections. But the state government surprisingly approached the Supreme Court challenging the High Court verdict. That shows the double speak of the government.”
Claiming that the outcome of the elections would be different if people were allowed to vote freely, Chowdhury said, “In stark contrast, when a by-election was held (recently) in the Sagardighi Assembly constituency, the central forces were deployed adequately, and people came out to vote feeling safe and secure. Consequently, the Congress won the seat by a margin of more than 23,000 votes. In the last Assembly election (in 2021), this seat was won by the TMC by a margin of 53,000 votes. What does it show? If voters are allowed to cast their vote in a peaceful manner, the result could be different.”
The three-tier panchayat polls in West Bengal, seen as a litmus test ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, will be held on July 8. The votes will be counted on July 11.
‘Not interested in forging alliance’
Mamata Banerjee is constrained to participate in the Opposition meeting because she is fast losing her national stature, the Congress leader said, The Indian Express reported.
He said, “She (Mamata) is not at all sincere in stitching or forging any alliance. She is a great underminer of alliance politics. There are examples galore. She has always played the role of a Trojan horse to undermine Opposition unity so that the Opposition could not be consolidated.”