Bengal: Congress Alleges 'Pre-Planned Genocide' In Panchayat Elections, Moves High Court

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the West Bengal Congress president, has filed a petition in the Calcutta High Court, claiming that a pre-planned genocide occurred in the state during the panchayat elections.

He is seeking compensation for the victims of the poll violence and an investigation by an independent agency.

The petition was submitted to the bench of Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam.

In his petition, Chowdhury has accused the State Election Commission of colluding with the TMC government in the state.

He alleges that they deliberately failed to fulfil their duty and violated the orders of the High Court, which were meant to ensure free and fair panchayat elections.

Chowdhury points out that despite the High Court's order, there was a lack of central paramilitary force in approximately 80 per cent of the polling booths.

He further alleges that from the night of 7 July, just hours before the voting began, anti-social miscreants joined forces with the state machinery to influence the voters.

He further added that “…the central paramilitary force has not been used to maintain the law and order… at some place… civic volunteers, who have been restrained by the High Court in participating in the election, were seen in videos influencing voters inside booths.”

Suvendu Adhikari, the Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly, said he is gathering evidence of alleged electoral malpractices in thousands of polling booths during the Saturday polling. He intends to bring the matter before the Calcutta High Court.

Speaking to reporters, Adhikari said, “We had submitted a list of 6,000 booths to the State Election Commission (SEC) recommending repoll. False voting had taken place in about 18,000 booths at the behest of the ruling Trinamool Congress. We are collecting more evidence, video footage and everything.”

The BJP MLA further added “Our list has been overlooked by SEC and we are not surprised. The list of booths announced by the SEC last night was submitted by the TMC. Detailed evidence backed up with ample video footage, will be submitted to the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday when counting of votes will be held.”

The State Election Commission has ordered a repoll in 697 polling booths, which accounts for about 1.2 per cent of the total 61,636 booths that were held on Monday.

In response to the incidents of violence during the panchayat polls in West Bengal, BJP national president JP Nadda has formed a four-member fact-finding committee.

The committee, led by former Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, will investigate the matter.

The committee's convenor is Prasad, and the other members include former Mumbai police commissioner and Baghpat MP Satyapal Singh, Silchar MP Rajdeep Roy, and Dhaurahara MP and party vice-president Rekha Verma.

The delegation is expected to arrive in the state later tonight.