WB Panchayat Polls: Opposition Alleges TMC Hooliganism, Many Candidates Forced to Withdraw

Kolkata: West Bengal is witnessing unprecedented hooliganism in the rural areas of the state. Trinamool Congress (TMC) hooligans are allegedly wreaking havoc to force the opposition to withdraw their nominations. 

The Left-Congress-ISF alliance, which has submitted more than 70,000 nominations in the three-tier panchayat system, are particularly facing the ire of the TMC hooligans, who come to the households of the candidates, many of them belonging to the marginal classes and minorities, to withdraw their nominations. 

The attack on the Left candidates allegedly started with the attack on Somadas Chakraborty at Minakha just after she submitted her nomination.

Women are particularly bearing the brunt of the attacks. In Birbhum, Anubrata Mondal wreaked havoc in the last panchayet election. He is now imprisoned in Tihar jail in New Delhi. Still, TMC hooligans wreaked havoc in Nanoor and Bolpur subdivisions, not allowing Left candidates to submit nominations. 

Many had braved the terror in the Bhangore of South 24 Parganas district, only to be threatened by the hooligans and forced to withdraw their nominations.

In Chopra, to have an opposition-free panchayet, the TMC hooligans had opened fire on a CPI(M) (Communist Party of India (Marxist)) rally, leading to multiple injuries.

In the last panchayat election in Birbhum district, TMC had won 93% of seats without any contest. CPI(M) has fielded candidates in over 80% of seats this time. This has resulted in the TMC hooligans, armed from the top to the tee, creating a stir in Bolpur, Labhpur, Nanoor, Illambazar Siuri and Sainthia. 

The story is similar in the North 24 Parganas district, from Barrackpore on the fringes of the greater Kolkata urban area to the Hasnabad area in the Sundarbans. 

The hooligans, however, were thwarted by the resilience of the CPI(M) candidates in many places. CPI(M) candidates MD Nashiruddin and Kamala Lenka stopped the moves of the TMC hooligans. 

In North Bengal's Dhupguri, TMC hooligans attacked CPI(M) workers and injured more than dozens when they were at the campaign pitch.

Speaking to Reporters in Kolkata, CPI(M) state secretary Md Salim has said that the TMC is making a mockery of democracy in the state, and West Bengal can be easily touted as the burial ground for democracy. He also took a potshot at the Chief Minister for the present unrest, whereby TMC hooligans beat up the opposition candidates for daring to submit their candidature. He also said that the Chief Minister is not fulfilling her constitutional duty and is letting the state fall prey to hooliganism.