West Bengal panchayat polls: Reports of violence blown out of proportion by Opposition, says CM Mamata Banerjee

KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said that reports of violence during the filing of nominations for the panchayat polls has been "blown out of proportion" by the opposition parties and a media house.

Only eight to nine incidents of violence were reported during the filing of nominations. Four persons have died and all of them belonged to the TMC, she said.

She said that her party, the Trinamool Congress, does not want violence and claimed that the opposition parties were "spreading canards" against her government.

"As the ruling party why should we (TMC) resort to violence? We want peace. The opposition parties are indulging in a conspiracy against my government. A media house is also working to malign my government's image", she told 'News 18 Bangla' channel.

Despite all this the TMC will win, she said exuding confidence and added "we must take care of people's interest".

Banerjee claimed that the BJP, Congress and the CPI-M were united against her government.

"In Delhi they are fighting against each other but here they are together. They are three brothers now. Everyday they are going to the court together to delay the (panchayat) polls process. They don't have faith in people," she said.

Refuting the opposition's allegations of violence before the panchayat polls, she said, "If we have tried to stop opposition parties from filing their nominations how could over two lakh candidates file their papers?" The situation, she claimed, was not the same during the previous panchayat polls in 2003 and 2008 under the Left Front rule.

"We (TMC) couldn't file so many nominations during the Left Front rule," she said.