WB panchayat polls: Polling agent killed in attack, claims BJP candidate

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India]: A booth agent of an independent candidate and a polling agent of a BJP were allegedly killed in two separate violence-related incidents during voting for single-phase panchayat elections in West bengal on Saturday.

The booth agent of an independent candidate was allegedly killed in Piragachha of North 24 Parganas district as per reports. The deceased has been identified as Abdullah, and locals alleged that the husband of a Trinamool Congress candidate was behind the “murder”.

Demanding the arrest of the accused, locals also staged a protest and blocked the road.
Authorities deployed police to prevent any communal flare-up.

Regarding the second incident, a BJP candidate Maya Barman claimed that Trinamool Congress “goons” hurled a bomb at his agent, leading to his “death”. The incident occurred at a polling booth in Falimari gram panchayat of Cooch Behar.

Following the attack, voting has been suspended at the booth, reports said.
“TMC goons hurled a bomb at my agent and killed him. They also attacked me, ” alleged BJP candidate Maya Barman, who also sustained injuries in the reported attack, and was taken to a hospital for treatment.As per the information, the deceased agent has been identified as Madhav Vishwas, Barman said.

Earlier, Trinamool Congress alleged that three of its party workers have been murdered in multiple incidents of violence in West Bengal after polling for the single-phase panchayat elections began in the state on Saturday morning.

The panchayat elections are underway for a single phase, with the counting of votes scheduled on July 11. The polls are likely to see a fierce tussle for control of local administrations between the ruling TMC and the BJP and will be a litmus test for both parties ahead of next year’s Lok Sabha elections.

Around 5.67 crore voters are likely to exercise their franchise to choose representatives for nearly 928 seats across 22 zilla parishads, 9,730 panchayat Samiti, and 63,239-gram panchayats seats.

West Bengal has 3,341 gram panchayats and the number of village panchayat election centres is 58,594. There are 63,239 seats at the Gram Panchayat level, 9730 at Panchayat Samiti and 928 at the Zila Parishad level.