Bhangor: ISF, Jami Raksha Committee alliance bags Polerhat-II Gram Panchayat

Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) strongman of Bhangor, Arabul Islam lost his ground to the Indian Secular Front (ISF) after a pitched battle with the latter winning the Polerhat-II Panchayat in an alliance with Jami Raksha Committee (JRC).

Bhangor had turned into a battlefield since the nomination process ensued. On two consecutive days, TMC workers under Arabul had clashed with ISF workers led by the Bhangor MLA Naushad Siddiqui.

Political workers from both parties lost their lives in the race to win the booths there. However, in the end, the ISF emerged as the victor as it wrested the seat from Islam with the help of Jami Raksha Committee.

After losing the Polerhat-II GP, Arabul is said to have left the counting centre and accepted his defeat. This time the number of seats in Polerhat-II Gram Panchayat was increased to 24.

All the seats were contested by ISF and JRC. It is learnt that most of these seats have been bagged by Independent candidates representing Jami Raksha Committee.

Commenting on the defeat of TMC in most of the seats in Polerhat-II Gram Panchayat, Arabul said that such a thing could happen and did not directly make any comment on whether he takes responsibility for the loss.

However, in the Bhangor-II block, 86 seats out of a total of 218 seats spread over 10 Gram Panchayats have been bagged by TMC.

However, there was a neck-to-neck fight with the ISF in most of the seats. Several seats have been bagged by the ISF. However, barring Polerhat-II, the TMC has won most of the seats in the rest of the nine Gram Panchayats uncontested.

Meanwhile, violence did not spare Bhangor even on the counting day as the ISF and TMC workers clashed on Tuesday. Reportedly, crude bombs were hurled and TMC’s office was vandalised in

the district.