KOLKATA: The three-tier panchayat elections on Saturday will not only decide who is going to dominate rural Bengal's political landscape for the next five years, but are also seen as a curtain raiser to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in the state, measuring the support of each political party at the ground level.
With the violence in the past one month having already claimed 19 lives, Bengal is fearing more bloodshed during the electoral exercise, which will start shortly after sunrise.
Three bodies were recovered in the past 24 hours from Murshidabad and North 24 Paraganas districts strengthening the anticipation of violence. Two of the bodies were found in Murshidabad, the minority dominated district where the Trinamool Congress received a jolt in the recent by-election as the Congress snatched away Sagardighi Assembly seat from the ruling party.
Though Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee termed the Congress victory in Sagardighi, where minorities form 66 per cent of the electorate, as a result of combined efforts of the CPI(M), BJP and the grand old party, leaders in Murshidabad admitted that the result of the by-election reflected discontent among Muslims. “Our party failed because of corruption by party satraps,” said a TMC leader.
Around 5.67 lakh voters will exercise their franchise on Saturday and decide the political future of 2,06,295 contestants who have joined the fray in the rural polls. The ruling Trinamool Congress fielded 71,938 candidates in the electoral battle and the party won many seats uncontested.
On Friday, governor CV Ananda Bose, who had slammed the state election commissioner 24 hours ago saying “waters of the holy Ganges cannot wash away blood on his hand”, visited Beldanga, Khargram and Domkol in Murshidabad district from where incidents of violence were reported.
The body of a Congress worker was found in Raninagar in Murshidabad. The party alleged that he was beaten to death by Trinamool Congress members. Another body was found in Beldanga and police are yet to ascertain whether the deceased was a victim of political violence.
At Bongaon in North 24 Parganas, the body of a man in his mid-40s, who was missing for the past three days, was found with bullet injuries.
Two persons were injured after a crude bomb exploded at Farakka in Murshidabad district, while in Birbhum’s Dubrajpur, police recovered 200 bombs from a paddy field, which were suspected to be stored for violence during the rural polls.
The remaining 485 companies of Central Armed Paramilitary Force (CAPF) personnel arrived in the state and were being sent to the districts for poll duty on Saturday.