Union State Minister Nisith Pramanik and BJP MLA Sukumar Roy’s car was allegedly "attacked with weapons" in Sahebganj in West Bengal’s Cooch Behar district on Saturday. Pramanik said an "arrow was aimed at our vehicle. Bombs are being lobbed". "BJP candidates’ documents were snatched, and they were beaten in front of the police. We have videos and photos," he added.

"There is anarchy in the state...TMC MLA is sitting in the BDO ( Block Development Officer) office. How can an MLA sit there? Nomination papers should be scrutinised under central forces' monitoring," MoS Nisith Pramanik said.

VIDEO | Union State Minister Nisith Pramanik and BJP MLA Sukumar Roy’s car was attacked with weapons at Sahebganj in West Bengal’s Cooch Behar district.“BJP candidates’ documents were snatched, they were beaten in front of the police. We have videos and photos,” said Pramanik. pic.twitter.com/QuWwtC9MCb

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) June 17, 2023

Meanwhile, West Bengal BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar claimed that TMC minister "Udayan Guha was standing there with his goons (when the incident happened), with 1000-1500 people". He further alleged that these "goons" were snatching Form B from the hands of our workers. "Police is literally helpless... Election Commission and State Administration are sitting silently," he said.

#WATCH | "A bomb was hurled at the car of Nisith Pramanik, Police is literally helpless. Udayan Guha is standing there with his goons, with 1000-1500 people. They are snatching Form B from the hands of our workers. Election Commission & State Administration are sitting silently.… https://t.co/kmUaqmiepq pic.twitter.com/hAIangpZKq

— ANI (@ANI) June 17, 2023

Amid this chaos, BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya said the violence in West Bengal is not unusual. "These seeds were sowed by the Communist Party and now Mamata Banerjee is resorting to extreme violence. We will save West Bengal, the BJP is going to get established there in the coming time," he added.

Violence in West Bengal

Several incidents of violence have been reported in parts of West Bengal ahead of panchayat polls. The Opposition – BJP, Congress and CPI (M) – accused the Trinamool Congress (TMC) of using muscle power to stop candidates of opposition parties from filing nominations.

In a bid to uphold fairness and address allegations of resistance and violence, the Calcutta High Court directed an extension of the nomination filing deadline for prospective candidates in Basirhat, North 24 Parganas district, for the upcoming panchayat elections in West Bengal, PTI reported on Friday.

The court's intervention comes in response to claims made by the president of the Basirhat district committee of the BJP, stating that candidates from the saffron party faced hindrances while attempting to file their nominations.

West Bengal Governor summons state poll panel chief

A day after paying a visit to violence-hit Bhangore in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district, Governor CV Ananda Bose summoned State Election Commissioner (SEC) Rajiva Sinha to Raj Bhavan on Saturday to brief him about the situation, an official said.

Sources added Sinha has been called by Bose at 2 pm to update him about the violence that claimed four lives in the state and steps taken to contain the situation. “Sinha has been summoned by the Governor at 2 pm to appraise him of the current situation in the wake of the violence,” an official was quoted by PTI as saying.

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After visiting Bhangore on Friday, the Governor said measures must be taken to end political violence and assured that "perpetrators would be permanently silenced" and “brought to book.”

"After talking to local residents and senior police officers there," Bose said violence would not be tolerated.

CM Mamata Banerjee reacts

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday asserted that the panchayat poll nomination process in the state is peaceful, even as she flayed the opposition for making an issue out of "one or two stray" incidents.

Banerjee also rejected claims that opposition candidates were not allowed to file nominations, informing that over 1.5 lakh nomination papers have been filed by them for the July 8 rural polls.

"Have you ever heard that 2.31 lakh nominations for rural polls have been filed in any other state? Over 1.5 lakh nominations have been filed by opposition parties alone, yet you are claiming that they weren't able to file nominations. Isn't this paradoxical?" the TMC supremo said.

More than 5 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the state's three-tier panchayat elections to elect nearly 74,000 candidates in zilla parishads, panchayat samitis and gram panchayats.

First Published:Jun 17, 2023 4:39 PM IST