A polling booth at Baravita Primary School in Sitai, Coochbehar, has been allegedly vandalised, and ballot papers set on fire after voting began for the single-phase panchayat polls in West Bengal on July 8.
A viral video accessed by ANI shows broken chairs and tables strewn inside a smoke-filled room.
Polling for panchayats in West Bengal began on July 8 morning under stringent security cover.
Since the dates for elections were announced on June 8, violence gripped the State.
While there were reports of violence in the State around the filing of nominations, similar incidents took place thereafter as well.
On July 8 night, ahead of the West Bengal panchayat elections, a clash broke out between Trinamool Congress and Congress workers in the Shamsherganj area of Murshidabad district. A house was vandalised as the workers of the two parties came to blows.
A team from the local police station reached the spot after receiving word of the incident.
In another incident, the home of a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate in West Bengal was allegedly attacked by Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers.
The incident took place in the Kalmati area of Bamanhat II Gram Panchayat of Dinhata. The injured are currently being treated at a private hospital in Coochbehar.
Also, police conducted a search operation it received information that crude bombs and weapons had been stockpiled in the South 24 Parganas district.
Police said that they received information about bombs and weapons that had been stockpiled to create disturbance during polling for panchayats in the district.
However, they added that nothing has been found yet.
“We had received information about the presence of bombs and weapons here, but till now we have not found anything. A search operation is underway.We have come to know from sources that preparations are being made to create disturbance during polling. We have information that crude bombs have been hidden in the area and searches are underway to find them,” Sub-Divisional Police Officer Dibakar Das said.
Multiple incidents of violence have been reported in the State in the run-up to the panchayat elections.
On July 1, a Trinamool Congress worker was allegedly shot dead in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district. The deceased was found lying with a bullet injury on his head on the side of the road at Basanti police station.
Earlier, a Trinamool Congress worker was allegedly beaten to death in the Malda district.
The polls are likely to see a fierce tussle for control of local administrations between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party and will be a litmus test for both parties ahead of next year’s Lok Sabha elections.
Around 5.67 crore voters are likely to exercise their franchise to choose representatives for nearly 928 seats across 22 zilla parishads, 9,730 panchayat Samiti, and 63,239 gram panchayats seats.
West Bengal has 3,341 gram panchayats, and the number of village panchayat election centres is 58,594. There are 63,239 seats at the Gram Panchayat level, 9730 at Panchayat Samiti and 928 at the Zila Parishad level.
Voting for rural elections in West Bengal began at 7 am today amid heavy security by central forces.
The State Election Commission (SEC) has taken proactive steps by deploying additional central forces to maintain law and order during the polls.
This move comes in response to the instances of violence that occurred in the State during the campaign period leading up to the rural elections.
As many as 600 central forces companies have been deployed for the elections along with around 70,000 state police.
The panchayat elections are scheduled to be held in a single phase on July 8, with the counting of votes on July 11.
