Trinamool has murdered democracy, says Bengal BJP after panchayat poll violence

The West Bengal unit of the BJP on Tuesday slammed the Trinamool Congress for “murdering democracy” in the state during Monday’s panchayat polls that left at least 15 people dead and several injured.

Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh alleged that law and order situation under the present government has completely collapsed in West Bengal.

“The Trinamool, along with the state election commission, has murdered democracy in Bengal. They have snatched away the democratic rights of the masses. If the TMC is so confident of the development it has done then why didn’t it allow the masses to vote freely?” Ghosh said.

Widespread violence during the panchayat polls on Monday left at least 15 people dead and more than 50 injured, even as more than 73% of the electorate turned up to cast their vote.

Opposition parties have accused the TMC of unleashing “a reign of terror and destroying democracy”. The TMC has termed the allegations “baseless”.

“Initially, they didn’t allow people to file nominations. And those who managed to do so were threatened by TMC and asked to withdraw. The people who didn’t withdraw were attacked. This is nothing but a complete destruction of the democratic process in the state,” Ghosh said.

The youth wing of the BJP has called a candlelight march in the city on Tuesday to protest against the violence.