WB Panchayat Election: Amid violence TMC, BJP,gear up for litmus test

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], July 7 : The voting for the panchayat polls in West Bengal will be held on Saturday in a single phase. The pre-poll status in the panchayats of the state saw massive violent episodes and the deaths of some.

The polls are likely to see a fierce tussle for control of local administrations between the ruling Trinamool Congress, Indian Secular Front and the Bharatiya Janata Party and will be a litmus test for both parties ahead of next year's Lok Sabha elections.

Since the day the polls were announced on June 8, the state has witnessed violence in various parts of the state.

Meanwhile, due to the continuous violence in the state Governor CV Ananda Bose will hit the street on Saturday.

"The ground situation is the same as it is in various violent-prone areas. People are in a state of fear. Tomorrow is the election and all voters should go to the polling booth to vote...The right of the voters is the highest right. Yes, I am doing publicity and I will do it again if they think it is...I am here for the people and to save their democratic rights...I will be there in action tomorrow for my people...." Governor said.

Bose has been visiting various places where violence had earlier broken out in the state.

In preparation for the panchayat polls, an additional 822 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) were deployed in West Bengal on July 3.

The State Election Commission (SEC) had earlier made a requisition to the Ministry of Home Affairs asking for the deployment of central forces in the state.

This came after the High Court order that had asked the SEC to deploy central forces in the state, similar to or more than that deployed in the 2013 panchayat polls in Bengal.

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 Samiti, and 63,239-gram panchayats seats.

West Bengal has 3,341 gram panchayats and the number of village panchayat election centres is 58,594. There are 63,239 seats at the Gram Panchayat level, 9730 at Panchayat Samiti and 928 at the Zila Parishad level.

In 2018, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) won uncontested, 34 per cent of the seats in panchayat elections, which also saw various instances of violence. Trinamool Congress has won many seats uncontestedly in the 2023 elections as well.