Trinamul national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Saturday asserted that Bengal's panchayat election held this July was peaceful without bloodshed, sparking a fresh controversy in the state's political circles.

Abhishek, who was in Dhupguri of Jalpaiguri district on Saturday to campaign for party candidate Nirmal Chandra Roy ahead of the September 5 bypoll, said his party had kept its commitment to ensure that the panchayat elections would be held in an amicable environment.

“During the “Trinamuley Janojowar” campaign (a statewide outreach drive conducted by him), we had promised that people would select candidates, everybody would cast their own votes and the panchayat elections would be without any violence and bloodshed. It has happened. We don’t need to create an environment of intimidation to win elections,” Abhishek said at the meeting.

To substantiate his point that the rural polls were peaceful and there was a big participation of other political parties, he furnished figures.

“Since 1978, this is the first time that parties in the Opposition (in Bengal) could file so many nominations… over double the number of nominations we filed.... The BJP, the Congress, the CPM and the Independents altogether filed around 1.5 lakh nominations while Trinamul filed 75,000 to 78,000 nominations. Everybody could cast his own vote, right from Cooch Behar to Kakdwip,” said the Trinamul MP.

At the rural polls, he mentioned, Trinamul won all zilla parishads, around 90 per cent panchayat samitis, and around 70 per cent panchayats.

His remarks were met with disdain by the Opposition leaders who alleged that the rural polls were marked by bloodshed, poll malpractices and loss of lives and that violence continued as the formation of rural boards was in process in the districts.

“Everyone is aware of the lies Trinamul leaders speak. They are desperate for a win in north Bengal and that is why Abhishek Banerjee is spreading lies. People don't take them seriously anymore,” said Samik Bhattacharya, the BJP’s chief spokesperson in Bengal.

CPM leader Samik Lahiri also slammed Abhishek.

“He has learnt to lie from his aunt (Mamata Banerjee). We must remember that he is nationally famous for his thieving skills. People will give Trinamul a befitting reply (in the 2024 polls),” said Lahiri.

A senior Congress functionary in Siliguri said Abhishek's statements contradicted chief minister Mamata Banerjee's own stand.

On July 21, Mamata told newspersons in Calcutta that there had been violence in some areas and 18 persons had died, most of whom were from Trinamul.

According to unofficial estimates, some 60 persons lost their lives during the rural polls. Trinamul workers and supporters account for at least half of them.

The BJP had claimed that 11 of their workers or supporters died, the Congress claimed eight, the Left five, and ISF four.

“This means he (Abhishek) does not even recognise the deaths of his own party supporters,” the Congress leader said.

Abhishek assured Dhupguri residents that he would put in effort so that the state government could create a new subdivision with Dhupguri as headquarters by December 31 this year.

He trained guns at the BJP lawmakers from north Bengal and accused them of non-performance but stayed silent on INDIA partners CPM and Congress.

He claimed that if INDIA came to power in the Centre, the price of a domestic LPG cylinder would come down to Rs 500. “As the elections are ahead, the Prime Minister reduced the price by Rs 200 and termed it as a gift of Raksha Bandhan. I want to ask him whether Raksha Bandhan comes once every five years. If INDIA is voted to power, the price will reduce to Rs 500,” Abhishek said.