Kolkata, Shiv Kumar Raut. According to the declared results of the panchayat elections held amid violence in West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress seems to be maintaining its supremacy. Two years ago, Trinamool won the assembly elections for the third time in a row. Leaving behind its rivals in the three-tier panchayat elections held in the state, the ruling Trinamool Congress has won 28,122 seats out of 63,229 gram panchayats, while its candidates are ahead in 1,587 panchayats, according to the results declared till Tuesday night.
According to the results declared till late night, Trinamool Congress’s nearest rival Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won 7,478 seats and its candidates are ahead in 435. The Left Front has won 2,420 seats, of which the CPI(M) alone has won 2,334 seats. Till late Tuesday night, the Left parties were leading on 302 seats. While Congress has won 198 seats and is leading on 146. Similarly, others were leading on 34 and independent candidates on 107. Other parties, including the newly formed Indian Secular Front (ISF), have won 710 seats and are leading in 1605. While independents including Trinamool Congress rebels won 710 seats.
Panchayat committee
Trinamool Congress has won 118 seats in this election. Its candidates are leading on 924. On the other hand, 92 candidates of BJP are increasing. On the other hand, the CPI(M) has won one seat and its candidates are on the rise in 36. Apart from this, Congress candidates got an edge in 12 seats. Apart from this, three candidates of other parties have won. At the same time, the contest on 37 seats remained inconclusive.
District Council
According to the results declared till late night, the Trinamool Congress has won 48 Zilla Parishads and is leading in 82, while the BJP and the CPI(M) are leading in two seats each. On the other hand, the result on 5 seats is a tie. There are a total of 928 Zilla Parishad seats in the state. Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said, “The results reflect the people’s trust in the Trinamool Congress and the state government.” This shows that people have rejected the divisive politics of BJP and negative politics of Congress and CPI(M). This election has been fought seriously by all the parties because they are considering it as an indicator to assess the wind direction in the year 2024 parliamentary elections. Panchayat elections held in West Bengal on Saturday were marred by widespread violence in which 15 people were killed, 11 of whom were associated with the Trinamool Congress. A total of 33 people have died in political violence since the announcement of the panchayat elections, out of which 60 percent belonged to the ruling party. The State Election Commission (SEC) on Monday held re-polling for 696 seats, which was by and large peaceful, following allegations of vote-tampering and violence by various parties. Central forces were deployed on the day of the election and counting of votes following the intervention of the Calcutta High Court.
During the re-polling held on Monday, 69.85 per cent voters exercised their franchise till 5 pm. The voter turnout in the panchayat elections held on Saturday was 80.71 percent. Panchayat elections in West Bengal have a history of violence and in the year 2003 elections around 40 people were killed in a single day. This year’s election violence was widely covered by the media, due to which it received national attention. The counting of votes for the three-tier panchayat elections held on about 74,000 seats is going on from eight o’clock on Tuesday morning amid tight security. Apart from the Gram Panchayat seat, 9,730 Panchayat Samiti seats and 928 Zilla Parishad seats are included in these. Around 339 counting centers have been set up in 22 districts of the state. Panchayat elections were held on about 74,000 seats in the state. South 24 Parganas district has the maximum number of counting centers at 28, while Kalimpong has the least number of counting centers at four. Darjeeling has a total of 598 seats while Kalimpong has a total of 281 seats. Here the Bhartiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM) is leading and is likely to emerge as the strongest party in the hill district of Bengal. On the other hand, 5.67 crore people were eligible to vote for 73,887 seats in the rural areas of the state on Saturday. It may be noted that in the 2018 Panchayat elections, Trinamool won 34 percent of the seats unopposed. At that time Trinamool had won 90 percent seats and was victorious in all 22 Zilla Parishads.
VIDEO: Violence, arson, bombing and arrow bows in Bengal Panchayat elections
