“Not election but a farce, assault on democracy,” says Swapan Dasgupta on WB Panchayat Poll

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], July 12 : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Swapan Dasgupta on Wednesday said that the recently conducted panchayat polls were not an election but a “farce and assault” on democracy.  

“This was not an election; it was a farce. It was an assault on democracy. It was a complete travesty on everything India stands for and I hope this will never be repeated in any part of India, least of all in West Bengal in any other election,” BJP leader Swapan Dasgupta said while speaking to ANI.

Coming down heavily on Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee over his recent tweet after the polls’ results, the BJP leader said that the TMC leader was not thanking the people of the state, but the State Election Commissioner, State Police, and Administration which have “put their entire weight into ensuring the victory for his party”.

“I think Abhishek Banerjee is thanking the wrong people. He should be thanking the State Election Commissioner, State Police, and Administration which put their entire weight into ensuring that the TMC won resoundingly in these Panchayat elections by means which were at best, half irregular and at worst, completely irregular. I think what Abhishek Banerjee really hopes for is that the 2024 general election will be fought with the Election Commissioner who is as useless as this. But fortunately, the Election Commission which will conduct the 2024 election is different and they should learn a lesson from what exactly happened in panchayat elections to understand the extent of irregularities, high-handedness, and rigging which took place.

Abhishek Banerjee on Tuesday said that the “roaring mandate” would pave the way for the party’s performance in the next year’s Lok Sabha elections.

Thanking the people of West Bengal for voting for his party in the three-tier panchayat elections, he in a dig at the main Opposition party, the BJP, said the campaign of “No Vote to Mamata” has turned into “Now Vote for Mamata”.

“Grateful to people for converting Opposition’s ‘No Vote To Mamata’ drive to ‘Now Vote For Mamata’. With the unwavering support to Trinamool’s Nabo Jowar (new wave), we will surely have a roaring mandate, paving the way for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Bengal, I thank you for all the love,” he tweeted.

BJP has claimed that at least 45 people have died in the clashes.

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra, while addressing a press conference said that these 'killings' are "institutional murder".

"In West Bengal, elections and violence have become synonymous...Around 45 people have been killed as far as Panchayat polls in West Bengal are concerned. Words like firing, bombing, murder and vote rigging are being used for the Panchayat elections...This is not accidental, this is a state-sponsored murder of democracy. It is an institutional murder, that is, from the police administration to the district officers and the administrative officers, everything is involved," Patra said.

Notably, violence broke out in West Bengal ahead of the Gram Panchayat elections which were previously to be held on July 8. However, the voting day was marred with widespread violence, looting of ballots papers and rigging.

There were reports of booth capturing, damaging of ballot boxes and assault of presiding officers from several districts such as Murshidabad, Cooch Behar, Malda, South 24 Parganas, North Dinajpur and Nadia.

Reports also emerged of ballot boxes being set on fire and clashes between political parties in different locations. As a result, the State Election Commission announced the re-polling of the Panchayat election on July 10. So, it concluded on Monday and the counting was carried out on Tuesday, July 11.

The Trinamool Congress won 28,985 and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) 7,764 seats while Congress has secured 2,022 seats so far.