Biman Bose
Condemning the incidents of violence reported from Birbhum, Murshidabad, Hooghly and Bankura districts, Left Front chairman Biman Bose on Tuesday said free and fair panchayat elections cannot be held in such circumstances.
“It is clear from today’s violence that free and fair polls cannot be held in the state under such circumstances. The State Election Commission is doing a really good job. If this continues, the election will turn into a farce,” he said.
Bose further said, “We will support candidates coming from secular and democratic parties in areas where we are not strong.”
Later in the day, a Left Front delegation met State Election Commissioner A K Singh and submitted a list of incidents in which Left candidates were allegedly attacked.
The Left Front also extended its support to city-based intellectuals planning a rally on Sunday (April 8) to protest against the rising communal violence in the state. The rally will be taken out from Mahajati Sadan to Esplanade. “The intellectuals have given a call to all political parties to attend the rally without party flags. We have decided to take part in it. All seventeen Left parties will attend it,” Bose announced.
The rally has been convened by city-based writers, poets and creative personalities. Poet Shakha Ghosh, writer Nabaneeta Dev Sen, actor Soumitra Chatterjee and others have agreed to attend.