Wednesday, 12 pm: Results/trends
Zilla Parishad (20/20)
TMC: 20
BJP: 0
Left: 0
Congress: 0
Others: 0
Panchayat Samiti (341/341)
TMC: 317
BJP: 6
Left: 2
Congress: 0
Others: 9
Hung: 7
Gram Panchayat (3,317/3,317)
TMC: 2,634
BJP: 220
Left: 41
Congress: 5
ISF: 8
Others: 214
Hung: 203
Kicking up a storm, and a green one at that, the ruling Trinamul Congress is well and truly on its way to enforce its political stranglehold in the rural hamlets of Bengal yet again.
Routing the Opposition thoroughly, the party is already leading in 12 out of the 20 Zilla Parishads, the upper most tier of the of the three-tier rural administration structure, from where counting trends are currently available.
In the Panchayat Samiti middle tier, Trinamul has an overwhelming edge in 232 samitis of the 245 rural bodies from where trends are available. Its closest rival, the BJP, is maintaining a lead in just seven.
The party has already bagged or is currently leading in 2,562 of the 3,317 Gram Panchayats which were up for grabs in these violence-hit panchayat polls registering a strike rate of over 77 percent and has pushed its prime challenger, the BJP, to a distant second position with just 212 GPs to remain content with so far. The Left-Congress combine has only managed to put 49 GPs in its kitty.
The counting process for the three-tier panchayat, which began at 8 am on Tuesday, has, for obvious reasons, spilled over to Day 2 given that over 75,000 seats are in the fray and voting was conducted on physical ballots.
Death toll on counting day violence stands at 4
Three people, two ISF workers and one ordinary villager, died in Bhangar after fresh violence rocked the region since Tuesday evening. All victims reportedly succumbed to bullet injuries. Alleging manipulation in counting of votes. ISF workers clashed with the police, hurled bombs and even fired at the men in uniform. Police retaliated by firing tear gas shells and rubber bullets. Hasan Ali, a 26-year old ISF worker, and Rejaul Gazi, another party worker, were murdered by unidentified assailants early this morning. The victims’ kin alleged that goons sheltered by TMC leaders Arabul Islam and Shaukat Mollah wore police uniforms and attacked the ISF workers late Tuesday night.
Raju Mollah, a villager from Bhangar Block II, was reportedly sprayed with bullets outside his house. Mollah’s family members claimed he wasn’t affiliated to any political party. An officer and another policeman also sustained bullet wounds and are currently undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Kolkata. Massive tension currently prevails in the area even as police continue to conduct raids and nab the suspected culprits.
In Raidighi, South 24 Parganas, body of a Trinamul Congress worker Biplab Haldar was recovered from a water body close to his home with multiple stab wounds on him in the wee hours of Wednesday. Haldar, a resident of Chandpasha village in the Mathurapur II block of the district, was missing since Tuesday evening after he was allegedly taken away by some acquaintances. The victim’s family members alleged he received threats from the BJP and was murdered following the victory of the BJP candidate in the local Gram Panchayat seat.
Violence continues
A BJP candidate’s house was allegedly set on fire in Barrackpore. Clashes were also reported from Moyna in East Midnapore while two people were wounded from a crude bomb explosion in Dinhata, Cooch Behar.
Over 40 people have so far lost their lives in political violence in the state ever since the polls were announced on June 8.
North Bengal, Jungal Mahal
The Trinamul Congress success story in the panchayat polls perhaps turned even sweeter with the party’s performance in North Bengal and Jungal Mahal districts where it managed to regain panchayat control over regions where the BJP had perceptively made significant political inroads over the past few years.
With the crucial general elections scheduled less than a year ahead, the gains are likely to supply a fresh boost to the party’s ultimate push for the Lok Sabha.
