Opposition orchestrated violence: TMC

Kolkata: The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Saturday accused the Opposition of orchestrating violence during the Panchayat polls while asserting that the party will emerge victorious in a majority of the seats when the votes are counted on July 11.

TMC on Saturday said that out of 61,539 booths where the Panchayat elections were conducted, there were nearly 60 booths which saw a few incidents and about 8 to 9 of which were serious in nature. It was an incident-free election in 13 to 14 districts of Bengal, the ruling party in the state claimed.

All the Opposition parties ‘scripted’ the stories of violence to malign Bengal and also to make a point that elections do not take place peacefully here added the TMC.

“Major incidents occurred only in 8-9 booths while minor incidents took place in around 51-52 booths. Altogether in around 60 booths, some incidents were reported which is much less than even 1 percent of the total number of booths. Even more than 60 per cent of the total casualties were from Trinamool,” during a press conference, senior TMC leader Shashi Panja said.

“In the run-up to the Panchayat polls, all the Opposition parties — CPI(M), BJP, Congress even ISF scripted a theory of violence to malign Bengal. Any death is uncalled for. The Opposition party leaders wanted a Central force in the polls. They came but their role is under question. The Opposition leaders instigated violence during their election campaign. BSF intimidated voters in the bordering areas. In 13-14 districts the election process was completely peaceful without a single incident of violence. Among the total casualties around 60 per cent of victims were from Trinamool,” she said.

During its press conference, Trinamool presented an audio-visual showing how Trinamool candidates and workers were killed in violence which was triggered by the Opposition-backed miscreants, the ruling party has claimed.

It showed, in Nadia’s Chapra, a TMC supporter was hacked to death by Congress goons. The victim has been identified as Amzad Hussain. He was declared dead at the Chapra primary health centre. A Trinamool Congress candidate’s younger brother in Bhangar was killed after a bomb was hurled at him. A Trinamool booth agent was killed by CPI(M)-backed goons in Ratua.

Trinamool spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said that some of the Opposition parties have “done marketing of violence”. “They are saying that there has been a reign of terror. How can it happen when the maximum number of victims were from Trinamool Congress,” he said.

“BJP, Congress and CPI(M) with the help of ISF have carried out violence in the state. They had claimed that they would kill Trinamool supporters. They instigated violence. Governor was also involved in this incident. They wanted to show that violence is happening in Bengal and take some political advantage of it. Opposition parties understood very well that people were not with them. We are not justifying but during the Left Front regime, around 60/70/80 people were killed on the day of elections,” Ghosh said.

Slamming Opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari’s comment that the Central government should intervene with Article 355 or Article 356 (President’s Rule), Ghosh said that “tainted” Adhikari has gone insane and needs to undergo treatment.

“Much hue and cry regarding violence was a ploy to cover their defeat in the election which will be clear on the day of counting. BJP should first handle Manipur before commenting on Bengal,” he stated. On Oppositions’ allegation of booth jamming Ghosh said: “Till 5 pm around 53 per cent polling was done. The number would have gone to 90 per cent if the Opposition’s claim was to be true.”