BJP, Cong, CPI(M) resorting to violence in 6-7 booths: TMC leader Kunal Ghosh

Purba Medinipur (West Bengal) [India], July 7 : Pointing fingers at the Opposition over the violence in West Bengal in the run-up to the July 8 panchayat elections, ruling Trinamool Congress leader Kunal Ghosh on Thursday said of the 73,000 booths put together for the polls, there are only about 6-7 where the BJP, Congress and the CPI(M) were resorting to violence.

Speaking to reporters in Purba Medinipur district of West Bengal on Thursday, Ghosh said, "As many as 73,000 booths have been arranged for the panchayat elections and barring 5-6 of them where the BJP, Congress and the CPI(M) were resorting to violence, the rest were functioning peacefully. It is a ploy by the Opposition to move court for political reasons in connivance with the governor. This is politically motivated. Everything is fine in West Bengal."

The state has been witness to several instances of violence during the filing of nominations for the panchayat polls and thereafter. One incident involved the alleged hurling of crude bombs at a Block Development Office (BDO) in Ahmadpur, Birbhum district.

Meanwhile, speaking on the violence ahead of the panchayat polls, in Murshidabad, TMC leader Tapas Roy said the Opposition parties should behave responsibly and refrain from provoking violence.

Roy said, "This (violence) should stop and police should act as per the law. They should take necessary action against the miscreants. The parties, which stand in Opposition to the state government and the TMC, should behave more responsibly and not provoke violence."

On Governor CV Ananda Bose's visit to a violence-hit area, Roy said, "The governor is acting like a politician, which is unconstitutional."

Earlier, on Monday, West Bengal Police recovered body of a BJP leader, Bankim Hansda, from the Bodo area of the state's Purulia district.

The Governor, earlier, condemned the violence ahead of the panchayat polls, saying, "There is violence in certain pockets of West Bengal. There is a manifestation of what is called the politics of murder, the politics of intimidation, the politics of muscle flexing."

The Governor added that his visits to violence-hit areas should not be construed as a "fault-finding mission but a fact-finding mission".

Earlier, a TMC worker was allegedly beaten to death in the Malda district.

The panchayat elections will be held in 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.