Taking a strong pitch on the recent violence in the state ahead of the panchayat elections, West Bengal Governor CV Anand Bose on Thursday said he would not tolerate it anymore.
Governor Bose said that his objective is to see that the situation in the state changes immediately. “My objective is to see that the situation in the state changes immediately. We cannot tolerate this anymore and we will not tolerate this anymore”, Governor Bose said.
Earlier, BJP National Vice-President Dilip Ghosh slammed the TMC government in West Bengal over the violence in the state ahead of the Panchayat polls.
“Every time there are elections in West Bengal, violence erupts. But there is no attempt to stop the violence because the party in power is doing it,” Ghosh alleged.
Appreciating the efforts made by the governor in dealing with the violence in the state, the BJP leader said that people are getting a chance to register their complaints on the numbers issued by the governor.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court refused to interfere with the Calcutta High Court’s order regarding the deployment of central forces in West Bengal for the upcoming panchayat elections and dismissed the plea challenging it.
The top court remarked that elections cannot be accompanied by violence, as it questioned, where is the free and fair election? if people are not able to file their nominations or are finished off while they are going to file nominations.
The court also observed that what the HC may have thought is that instead of requisitioning forces from other neighbouring states, it is better to deploy central forces, and expenses would be borne by the Centre.
Ahead of the Panchayat elections, scheduled to be held on July 8, the state witnessed continuous clashes in various parts of the state, including an outbreak of violence at the Block Development Office in Birbhum’s Ahmadpur, where crude bombs were reportedly thrown. Also, a TMC worker was beaten to death in the Malda district.
The election will be held in a single phase on July 8, with vote counting scheduled for July 11. Panchayat polls in West Bengal will witness a fierce contest between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the ruling Trinamool Congress as they will be seen as a litmus test ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.