Violence mars municipal polls in Bengal, BJP calls for bandh

Kolkata, Feb 27 (IANS) On a day when BJP called for a 12 hours bandh alleging widespread violence during the municipal polls in 108 municipalities across West Bengal, Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar summoned state election commissioner Sourav Das to give a detailed report. However, the ruling Trinamool Congress accused the BJP of creating disturbance in the state.

"There has been widespread violence in the state and everybody is a witness to it. We would like to call for a 12 hour bandh - from 6 a.m. in the morning till 6 p.m. in the evening - on Monday. This is the first day of the week and I know it will cause hindrance to a lot of people but for the future of West Bengal and to save democracy I think people will understand," state BJP President Sukanta Majumdar said.

There were reports of violence from several parts of the state including Bhatapara and Kankurgachi in North 24 Parganas, English Bazar in Malda district and Jalpaiguri district. Police have made preventive arrests of 786 people and arrested 51 people for indulging in violence. According to the state election commission, there were more than 1000 complaints and action has been taken on the basis of the complaints.

However, Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar was not convinced with the action taken by the State Election Commission and has asked commissioner Sourav Das to report to him about the details of the election before 10 a.m. on Monday. "Today I have seen how democratic values have been throttled. I am hurt to find that West Bengal has turned out to be a gas chamber of democracy".

"People are losing faith in democratic process. I am aghast and cannot believe that the electoral process could be so polluted. It was a war where the entire administration and the police machinery was on side along with the dispensation that is in power and the state election commission headed by the state election commissioner has abdicated its authority. I await his response and I expect that he will heed law and the constitution," the governor said.

"This is not the time to look for alibis. This is not time to act smart. This is the time to discharge his constitutional obligations. I expect the state election commissioner to abide by his constitutional obligation so that the purity of the election process is maintained. It is my duty to protect the constitution and I shall do everything to discharge my duties," the governor added.

Meanwhile, speaking to media, state DGP Manoj Malviya said, "There have been sporadic incidents but there is no report of any widespread violence. The election has been conducted peacefully and the police and the administration have discharged their duties impartially".

"The BJP was nowhere to be found all through the day and now they are calling for a bandh. This is only a ploy to create disturbance and stop the developmental work of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee," Trinamool Congress Secretary General Partha Chatterjee said.

When asked about the bandh, the DGP said, "There has been a standard instruction from the Chief Minister that the state government is against bandh and we will not allow this in our state. There will be police all over the state and all kinds of transport, private and government offices will remain open. Anyone who tries to go against the law will be strongly dealt with".

The state however recorded a polling percentage of little more than 76 till 5 p.m. East Midnapore recorded the highest polling percentage of 84.1 followed by Birbhum and Murshidabad with 83.2 and 83 per cent respectively. Apart from that Alipurduar Coochbehar, Jalpaiguri, Nadia South and North Dinajpur and East Burdwan recorded more than 80 per cent of polling till 5 p.m. in the evening. Darjeeling recorded the lowest polling percentage with only 54.1.

Early visuals from the polling booths showed long queues as people turned up to exercise their franchise. The voting was held for 2,171 wards of the 108 municipalities and the counting of votes will take place on March 2.