Category: KOLKATA

Within a day, a second Trinamool Congress activist was killed on Saturday in post-poll violence in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district, just hours after another party worker was hacked to death.

A Trinamool Congress activist was hacked to death on Saturday by alleged All India Secular Front Activists (AISF) workers at Canning in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district.

Trinamool Congress' national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Friday accused Justice Rajasekhar Mantha of the Calcutta High Court, without taking his name, of giving “protection to anti-social elements”.

The death toll in panchayat election related violence in West Bengal continued to rise after a BJP worker, who was injured in clashes on the counting day on July 11, died at a hospital on Friday.

A four-stage pattern has been maintained in West Bengal over the panchayat polls by the ruling Trinamool Congress this time, according to the former Union law  minister and the BJP Lok Sabha member Ravi Shankar Prasad.

The deceased has been identified as Saifur Rahman, a local Trinamool Congress worker based out of Raghunathganj in Murshidabad district. He and his brother Maidul Rahman suffered severe injuries last Saturday following the blast of a crude bomb. 

West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose on Thursday gave strict instructions to the State Election Commission (SEC) to update the Calcutta High Court on the 7,500 complaints received at the 'Peace Room'.

The overall death toll in connection to the recently-held panchayat polls in West Bengal increased to 42 on Wednesday after three people were killed in South 24 Parganas district.

Counting of votes for the 73,887 seats in the three-tier panchayat system of West Bengal started on Tuesday amid reports of sporadic violence and clashes coming from different parts of the state.

However, a tragic incident took place on Monday, as an elderly voter named Nabadwip Halder died of heart-attack while standing in queue outside a polling station in Nadia district. 

State Congress president in West Bengal and five-time party Lok Sabha member Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Monday approached the Calcutta High Court with a plea for compensation to the victims of violence related to the panchayat polls in the state.

Trinamool Congress in West Bengal on Monday announced the names of six candidates for the forthcoming Rajya Sabha polls, three of whom are being re-nominated.

Fresh polling was underway on Monday at  696 booths across19 districts of West Bengal for the three- tier panchayat system with reports of sporadic violence coming from different pockets of the state.

A day after violence-marred panchayat polls, the West Bengal State Election Commission (WBSEC) late on Sunday announced that re-polling on Monday will be conducted in just 697 polling booths in different districts of the state.

The highest number of deaths has been reported from Murshidabad district at four, followed by two deaths each in Malda, Cooch Behar and East Burdwan districts, while Nadia, South 24 Parganas and North Dinajpur districts reported one casualty each.

The maximum number of booths where the polling process is on without the presence of central armed forces personnel includes in Howrah, North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, East Midnapore, and the tribal-dominated pockets in Bankura, Purulia and West Midnapore districts.

West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose on Saturday condemned the widespread violence amid the ongoing panchayat elections in the state, saying the incidents were a blot on the democratic set-up.

As voting for the three-tier panchayat elections in West Bengal is currently underway amid widespread violence, at least six deaths were reported in the first three hours of balloting on Saturday.

In the continuing pre-poll violence over the July 8 panchayat polls in West Bengal, a local Congress leader Aurobindo Mondal was lynched allegedly by the ruling Trinamool Congress activists in Murshidabad district on Friday morning.

The investigating officials of the central agency are of the opinion that unless these documents are available they will not be able to have a clear idea of the sources and destinations of the fund transactions.

The overall death toll in connection to the pre-poll violence in West Bengal over the upcoming panchayat elections has increased to 15 after the nephew of a local Trinamool Congress leader was killed in a crude bomb explosion.

In spite of 14 deaths reported in pre-poll violence over the July 8 panchayat elections in West Bengal during the past 26 days, state Director General of police Manoj Malviya dubbed the violent cases "sporadic".

Parts of South 24 Parganas district in West Bengal, especially the persistent tension epicenters, were rocked by massive violence over the forthcoming panchayat polls since early Tuesday morning just a day after the Governor, C.V. Ananda Bose's visit to the district.

The West Bengal State Election Commission (SEC) informed the Calcutta High Court on Monday that the Union Home Ministry has confirmed sending 485 additional companies of central armed forces for the July 8 panchayat elections.

West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose said on Monday that the ongoing political 'Holi' with human blood in the run-up to the July 8 panchayat polls must stop immediately.