• Body of a TMC worker recovered from Hemtabad in Uttar Dinajpur a short distance away from his home. Family members allege that the victim was strangled to death.
• Death toll so far: Murshidabad – 5, Cooch Behar – 3, East Burdwan – 2, North Dinajpur – 2, Malda – 1, Nadia – 1, South 24 Parganas – 1
• Three voters including a woman were shot in the Khanakul area of Hooghly after miscreants reportedly opened random fire in the vicinity of booth premises in their attempt to capture the polling station.
• Suvendu Adhikari sends contempt of court notice to IG BSF and Force Coordinator of Bengal panchayat polls for ignoring Calcutta High Court order and not deploying central forces in all polling booths of the state. State election commissioner Rajiva Sinha obliquely points fingers at the central forces for being unable to respond quickly to violent political outbreaks at various parts of the state
• Three more deaths take rural poll day toll up to 14. In Goalpokhar, Uttar Dinajpur, husband of an outgoing local Trinamul panchayat pradhan, Md Shahenshah, was killed during clashes between TMC and Congress supportersA BJP worker, Charanjiv Kaji, succumbed to bullet injuries he sustained during clashes between the BJP and TMC workers at Bhangi in the Dinhata area of Cooch BeharIn Naoda, Murshidabad, a Congress worker succumbed to injuries sustained on account of a crude bomb hurled on him
• Amid reports of violence pouring in from different pockets of the state, Bengal Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari gave a call for a “people’s uprising” by holding a “march to Kalighat and removing the bricks” from a certain establishment. Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee resides in the area. “Let them open fire. Some 10-20 people will die. I am willing to be among them. But the 10 crore people of this state will be saved,” Adhikari said in Nandigram. “Either we do that or the President should impose Articles 355 or 356 and conduct fresh polls. Those are the only two options left before us,” he added.
• It’s the Trinamul supporters who are dying in these rural elections and the Opposition is trying to build false narratives and resorting to poltical drama, responded Kunal Ghosh, TMC spokesperson.
• Three more deaths on account of panchayat poll-related violence in Bengal takes toll up to 11 since voting began Saturday morning
• In Katwa, East Burdwan, a TMC worker Goutam Roy, an election agent of the local party candidate, was allegedly lynched by CPI-M workers. Roy was reportedly dragged out of his poll booth and his skull smashed by his attackers leading to his instant death.
• In Lalgola, Murshidabad, Roushan Ali, a CPI-M worker died after he was badly beaten up by the Trinamul supporters during an ongoing clash between Congress workers and the TMC. Ali reportedly tried to intervene in the violence over booth capturing attempts by the two sides and succumbed to his injuries.
• In a bizarre turn of events at Fulmalancha area of Basanti in South 24 Parganas, Anisur Ostagar, a TMC worker and brother of the local party candidate died of head injuries while standing the voting in queue when crude bomb was hurled directly on him by miscreants supporting an Independent candidate. The incident happened when bombs were indiscriminately hurled at each other by the two sides outside the poll booth even as people stood in queue to cast their votes
• Till 11am, 22.6 per cent votes were polled across the state

• A TMC worker, Amjad Hossain, was hacked to death in Chapra, Uttar Dinajpur allegedly by supporters of the Left-Congress combine, 11 TMC workers badly injured. The victims were attacked when they had reached a booth to cast their votes, alleged local TMC MLA Rukbanur Rahaman
• The incident took the day’s death toll to 8
• Two BJP workers were shot in the Village One Gram Panchayat in Dinhata, Cooch Behar
• Large scale violence was reported from Sitai, Cooch Behar where ballot papers were snatched and burnt. Panicked voters, fearing for life, fled the voting premises. Halting polls, the state election commission has called for a report on the incident from the district administration.
• A BJP candidate for Gram Panchayat, Deepa Chhetri’s husband shot in Gitaldaha area of Cooch Behar. Four people sustained bullet injuries in the violence.
• Governor CV Ananda Bose reached violence-hit areas of North 24 Parganas and spoke to kin of victims and local people.

• More violence reported from various parts of Bengal over panchayat polls, death toll on poll day reaches 7 within the first three hours of voting
• CPI-M worker Rajibul Haq succumbed to his injuries at the NRS Medical college on Saturday. Haq was grievously hurt in clashes with the TMC in Ausgram, East Burdwan on Friday. He was first admitted at Burdwan Medical College and Hospital and later transferred to Calcutta after his condition deteriorated
• A TMC supporter was lynched, allegedly by the BJP workers in Tufangunj, Cooch Behar
• Death toll so far: Murshidabad 3, Cooch Behar 2, Malda 1, East Burdwan 1
• A Trinamul worker was shot at in Islampur, Uttar Dinajpur allegedly as a result of party infighting, while in Shamsergunj, Murshidabad a female voter sustained bullet injuries during political clashes which has kept the region on the boil since morning

• Two children, siblings, were injured in the Kashipur area of Bhangar when they tried to fiddle with live crude bombs lying on the road mistaking them to be playthings… The bombs were leftovers of clashes between ISF and TMC workers taking place in the area since Friday night… The injured children have been transferred to a hospital in Calcutta
• Out of bounds violence in multiple pockets kills five in Bengal even before first hour of polling gets over, many injured
• A BJP polling agent, identified as Madhav Biswas, allegedly murdered at Falimari Gram Panchayat in Cooch Behar… the party’s GP candidate sustains splinter injury from crude bombs
• A Trinamul worker allegedly killed by Congress-sheltered miscreants at the Gopalpur Gram Panchayat in Manikchak, Malda… At least eight people injured in clashes between the two sides
• Two TMC workers were killed in separate incidents of violence in Murshidabad: Yashin Sheikh, father-in-law of a local TMC candidate, murdered in Beldanga in the Rejinagar PS area of the district and Sahabuddin Sheikh in Khargram… Fingers are pointed at the supporters of Left-Congress combine… Many reportedly injured in clashes between the two sides at Raninagar, one CPI-M worker among them has sustained bullet injury, two TMC and a Congress worker have also been shot at in Domkal while another TMC supporter at Samshergunj has also been shot
• Supporter of an Independent candidate allegedly shot at by TMC-sheltered goons in Kadambagachhi in North 24 Parganas
• In the Malpaharpur GP area of Tarakeswar in Hooghly, Chandana Singh, daughter of an Independent candidate is battling for life after she was shot in her head… Family alleges TMC goons aimed for the candidate’s son but the bullet hit his daughter who was standing close by
• Two ISF workers have allegedly been shot in Bhangar in South 24 Parganas following a clash between supporters of ISF and TMC… Both sides allegedly hurled crude bombs at each other
• Reports of political clashes also being reported from Arambag in Hooghly and Birbhum
• TMC alleges its Panchayat candidate from Salbari-II Gram Panchayat of Jalpaiguri has been critically wounded by BJP goons despite the presence of Central Forces
• BJP alleges obstruction of polling agent and the candidate of the party at part no 141 station Majherait FP school near Reckjoany hospital in Rajarhat Block polling stations
• BJP alleges massive intimidation by TMC at booth nos 186 and 187 in Diamond Harbour and casting of false votes
• TMC stifling democracy by looting Ballots openly at booth No 44 & 45 of the Kholakhali, Nurpur Panchayat, Majumdar alleges
• Ballot Boxes set ablaze in Cooch Behar district, poll officials have fled, says Majumdar
• TMC says that their Narayanpur-1 Gram Panchayat candidate Hasina Sultana's husband has been attacked with guns and crude bombs along with other candidates
• Trinamul Congress alleges three party workers killed in Rejinagar, Tufanganj and Khargram and two have been left wounded from gunshots in Domkol
• Two ISF workers injured in clash with TMC at Bhangar, reports Indian Express
• Local voters of Nandigram Block 1 in Purba Medinipur district have decided to boycott the election until booth numbers 67 & 68 in Mahammadpur No. 2 area get central forces, reports ANI
• Polling booth at Baravita Primary School in Sitai, Coochbehar vandalised and ballot papers set on fire, alleges BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar
• Polling begins at 7am

Amid widespread violence and killings, rural West Bengal will vote on Saturday for the three-tier panchayat polls, which many believe will serve as a grassroots litmus test for the 2024 parliamentary 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 samitis, and 63,229 gram panchayats seats, reports PTI.

Since the day the polls were announced on June 8, widespread violence was reported in various parts of Bengal leading to the death of over a dozen people, including a teenager.

Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee and ner nephew, the party's national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, led the party's campaign while stressing the need to shun strong-arm tactics by its cadres and allow more democratic space to the political opponents, to avoid the rerun of the 2018 rural polls when it had won around 34 per cent seats uncontested.

BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar, national vice-president Dilip Ghosh, and leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari led the saffron party's campaign, whereas state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and CPI(M) state secretary Mohammed Salim led their parties' respective poll drives.

The Indian Secular Front (ISF), with its limited presence in parts of North and South 24 Parganas, too grabbed headlines as its leader and lone MLA Nawsad Siddique led the party’s campaign, which often resulted in clashes with the ruling TMC in Bhangor in South 24 Parganas.

Peace home at Raj Bhavan

For the first time, Raj Bhavan played an active role in addressing the issue of poll violence, with Governor C V Ananda Bose opening a 'Peace Home' at the governor's house to address complaints of the aam aadmi.

Ananda Bose visited violence-hit areas to assuage victims and their families, drawing a pat from the BJP and criticism from the ruling TMC.

The polls to elect representatives for village councils will be held under the watchful eyes of central forces for the second time since the inception of the Panchayati Raj system in Bengal in the late Seventies.

Deployment of security forces

Nearly 65,000 active central police personnel and 70,000 state police personnel will be deployed for the polls, officials said.

"BJP seems to forget that people vote and not the central forces. If the BJP doesn't have the support of people, no matter how many central forces you seek, the mandate will not change," Abhishek Banerjee said.

In the 2013 panchayat polls, the TMC won over 85 per cent of the seats, despite heavy deployment of central forces.

Violence and malpractices

In the 2018 rural polls, the TMC won 90 per cent of the panchayat seats and all the 22 zilla parishads. However, these elections were marred by widespread violence and malpractices, with the Opposition alleging they were prevented from filing nominations in several seats.

"The TMC wants to make the rural polls a replay of 2018, but we won't allow this to happen this time. BJP will defeat the TMC," Majumdar said.

Chowdhury had said the "grab-all mindset" of the TMC, with no space for any form of opposition, has led to this anarchic situation.

Corruption in rural bodies

Echoing him, CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty said people will reject both the TMC and BJP in the polls.

The issue of corruption in rural bodies and Centre halting funds under MGNREGA have dominated the campaign, which ended on Thursday.

The rural polls, which cover nearly 65 per cent of the state's population, also provide parties with a final opportunity to assess their booth-level organisation ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, as most of the 42 parliamentary seats are situated in rural areas of the state.