'I'm Giving Free Hand To Police To Act': Mamata Banerjee On West Bengal Panchayat Poll Violence

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee claimed that 19 people, mostly from her TMC, died in poll-related violence since the Panchayat election date was announced on June 8.

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said she is saddened at the loss of lives in 'sporadic' incidents of violence during rural polls. Banerjee also asserted that her government has given a free hand to the police to take action against those behind the violence.

"I am saddened at the loss of lives in sporadic incidents of violence during panchayat elections... The polls were held in 71,000 booths, but incidents of violence took place in not more than 60 booths," she said.

The chief minister claimed that 19 people, mostly from her TMC, died in poll-related violence since the election date was announced on June 8.

Police sources, however, have put the number of fatalities at 37.

"I am giving police free hand to act against those behind the violence," she told reporters at the state secretariat 'Nabanna'.

Banerjee also appealed for peace and harmony in the aftermath of the polls.

Mamata Banerjee's politics is full of atrocities: BJP on Panchayat poll violence

Senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad on Wednesday criticised West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for letting loose a reign of terror during the rural polls and wondered why the central leadership of the Congress and the Left are silent on it.

A four-member BJP fact-finding team to West Bengal, led by the former Union minister, said the state unit's demand for implementing Article 355 is "justifiable".

"We had immense respect for Mamataji when she defeated the 34-year-old Left regime in the state. Today, I want to gently remind Mamataji about her evolution in Bengal and national politics. She was a fighter. But unfortunately, her government has crossed even the records of the Left regarding misrule, anarchy and lawlessness in the state," he said.

The BJP leader told reporters, "Her (Mamata Banerjee) politics is now full of atrocities, which was not evident even during the Left rule."

"Why are so many people being killed? Why so much violence across the state? Is this not the responsibility of the state administration to ensure free and fair polls? This was once the scenario of Bihar, but the state, too, has moved ahead. Mamata Banerjee has shamed democracy in Bengal," he said.

Hitting out at the opposition meeting in Patna, Prasad wondered why the CPI(M) and the Congress brass are silent on the ongoing violence.

"The opposition parties, including Mamata Banerjee, were vocal about BJP posing a threat to the democracy in the country. I want to ask Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury for their silence on the killings in West Bengal. Even their party cadres are being beaten up, so why are they silent?" he questioned.

Prasad mocked the TMC boss over her social media post regarding the party's victory in rural polls and wondered whether Banerjee is "afraid to face the media".

"She conducts press conferences at the drop of a hat. This time she has refrained from interacting with the media as she knows the truth behind the violence and blood-smeared rural polls," he said.

The BJP MP from neighbouring Patna hoped that the fact-finding team would be allowed to visit the violence-hit areas of the state.

When asked to comment on demands by BJP leader to impose Article 355 in West Bengal, the former Union law minister said, "Article 355 says the Centre must convey to the state that governance is done as per the mandate of the Constitution."

"The Centre will look into the governor's report and then take a call accordingly. But this is a justifiable demand," he said.

The TMC mocked the fact-finding team and said it was an attempt to divert attention from the party's humiliating defeat.

"They should first send a fact-finding team to Manipur, which has been burning for the last two months. The BJP's fact-finding team in West Bengal is an attempt to divert attention from its own organisational failure," TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said.