A Trinamul Congress leader asserted on Friday that the state leadership would pick the candidates for panchayat elections and striction action would be taken if anyone held a booth-level meeting to choose the nominees.

Sabina Yeasmin, the minister of state for north Bengal development, issued the warning a day after two Trinamul leaders had been shot dead at Chopra in North Dinajpur district following differences within the party over the selection of candidates for panchayat elections.

“The state leadership had unequivocally said it would select candidates for rural polls. Even then, a meeting was called at the booth level which led to the unfortunate incident. We want to make it clear that such meetings won’t serve any purpose. If anybody calls such a meeting, he will face appropriate steps for violating the party’s directive,” said Yeasmin, who has been deputed by the party in North Dinajpur district.

On Thursday, a group of Trinamul workers at Dighbana in Chopra block held a meeting to select candidates for a particular panchayat seat. Differences cropped up during the selection and after the meeting, some members of one of the groups opened fire at the other, killing two persons and injuring three others.

After the incident, Md. Kadir, the son of Faizul Rehman, said his father had died because of infighting within the party.

Hamidul Rehman, the Trinamul MLA of Chopra, however, spoke in a different tune vis-à-vis Yeasmin’s remarks, on the issue.

“The selection of candidates for 22 booths in the panchayat concerned has been done peacefully through similar discussions. We don’t know what happened yesterday. It is an unfortunate incident and we want police to arrest all culprits,” said Rehman.

His remarks have led to questions as to whether even elected representatives like MLAs have understood the state leadership’s message about the selection of candidates.

Yeasmin, when told about the issue, said the MLA’s role was also under scanner. “We are looking into the role of Hamidul Rehman,” she said.

Shops and marketplaces were closed and a section of Trinamul supporters raised a blockade on a state highway at Dighbana on Friday morning. After an hour, the blockade was lifted following police intervention.

The police patrolled Dighbana and conducted raids in search of Mohammad Naseer and Mohammad Rashid, who were accused of opening fire. The police seized a car from Naseer’s residence.

“So far, one person has been detained in connection with the incident. Raids are going on. The situation is under control now,” said an officer of the Islampur police district.

CPM campaign

Calcutta: Close on the heels of Trinamul’s “CPIM Cheated Us” campaign, the CPM launched a digital campaign — “Chor Trinamul (Trinamul thieves) — on Friday to expose the “corrupt leaders” within Bengal’s ruling party.

While the campaign became a trendsetter shortly after its launch on Friday, Trinamul’s state secretary Kunal Ghosh hit back with a tweet accusing CPM leader Sujan Chakraborty of recruitment irregularities. Ghosh tweeted a list of 13 people, who are allegedly close to Chakraborty and got government jobs during the Left regime.

“Chor Trinamul is not our slogan. The people are saying so. In trains, buses, local shops, everywhere. People are calling Trinamul leaders thieves. We are just asking the people to keep their eyes open,” said CPM state secretary Md Salim at a news conference.

ARKAMOY DATTA MAJUMDAR