KOLKATA: At least four persons were killed and several injured in violent clashes between BJP and Trinamool Congress and factional feuds within TMC over the formation of panchayat boards in West Bengal on Monday, prompting Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to issue orders to her ministers to maintain peace in the districts.
BJP claimed that two of its supporters were killed in police firing in Ghaghra gram panchayat in Joypur block of Purulia district on Monday.
"TMC cadres attempted to capture Ghaghra gram panchayat by force and lobbed crude bombs. When BJP cadres resisted, police acted at the behest of the ruling party and opened fire on our workers in which two of them were killed. One worker has been identified as Narayan Gope. The identity of the other worker is yet to be ascertained," Purulia district BJP President Vidyasagar Chakraborty said.
The incident comes after two BJP workers Trilochan Mahato and Dulal Kumar were found hanging in Balarampur of Purulia district in June after the BJP won a large number of seats in the district.
BJP is hopeful of forming boards in 59 gram panchayats of the district.
On the other hand, two TMC cadres were killed in clashes between two TMC factions in Gopalpur gram panchayat in Manikchak of Malda district on Monday. The deceased have been identified as Salam Sheikh and Azhar Sheikh. One three-year-old boy was also injured in the incident.
The factional feud erupted between Savitri Mitra and Gour Mondal factions of TMC over the nomination of panchayat pradhan. However, TMC secretary general and education minister Partha Chatterjee called the clash as 'individual fighting'.
"Individual interests play at the panchayat level. This is not TMC infighting," he said. Violence erupted across West Bengal from Saturday onwards after Supreme Court on Friday ordered the formation of panchayat boards in the state, turning down BJP's petition for re-election to over 20,000 uncontested panchayat seats in the state.
TMC worker Lal Mohammad was killed in the factional feud in Panditpota 1 gram panchayat of Islampur in Uttar Dinajpur district on Saturday.
Taking note of the violence, Chief Minister -- also the Home minister -- Mamata Banerjee, during a cabinet meeting at state secretariat Nabanna on Monday, ordered her ministers to maintain peace in their respective districts during panchayat board formation.
On the other hand, Malda district Congress extended support to TMC to form boards in 146 gram panchayats of the district.
"We have decided to support TMC in forming panchayat boards to stop BJP. We have been told by the high command to do this," Malda Uttar MP Mausam Benazir Noor said.
However, West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee President Adhir Ranjan Choudhury said he was in the dark over the development. "This alliance was never discussed at the state level and is a very local affair," he said.
Defying established alliances, local cadres of major parties TMC, BJP, CPM and Congress are forming unusual alliances at local levels to form panchayat boards including reports of TMC, CPM and Congress forming alliance to keep off BJP from forming boards.
On the other hand, ruling party's Uluberia Dakshin MLA Pulak Roy was stone-pelted allegedly by BJP workers at Uluberia's Shyampur in Howrah district during a clash between TMC and BJP workers on Monday. Several persons were arrested.