New Delhi (Agency): Outpacing its opponents in West Bengal’s rural polls, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) clinched victories in more than 3,700 gram panchayat seats, and maintained a leading position in another 3,167 seats. These figures were reported by the State Election Commission. Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the primary opposition, managed to secure 673 seats and stayed ahead in 782 seats out of the total 63,229 gram panchayat seats throughout the state.
Among the other competitors, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) took 241 seats and was ahead in over 627 gram panchayat seats, with its ally Congress winning 107 gram panchayat seats and leading in 241 other seats.
The votes of the three-tier panchayat polls, which account for nearly 74,000 seats, started to be counted early at 8 am on Tuesday, without incident and under strict security measures. The tally includes the gram panchayat seats as well as 9,730 panchayat samiti seats and 928 zilla parishad seats.
Counting centres, totalling 339, were scattered across the state’s 22 districts, with the highest concentration found in South 24 Parganas with 28 centres, and the least in Kalimpong, home to only four centres. Weather issues were affecting some northern districts.
Counting operations kicked off at 8 am and were predicted to extend over the next couple of days, according to a State Election Commission official, who mentioned that the ballot counting and results compilation processes will be time-consuming.
Various political dynamics were noted in different regions. In the Darjeeling hills, for instance, the BGPM took the lead in 21 out of the total 879 seats available in Darjeeling and Kalimpong, while the BJP led in one, with independents holding the lead in four seats.
As the first trends emerged, a verbal spat ensued between the ruling TMC and the BJP. The latter pointed fingers at the TMC for allegedly trying to manipulate the vote counting process by hindering opposition agents from entering counting centres.
“TMC goons are making desperate attempt to steal the elections by obstructing the counting agents and candidates of the BJP and other opposition political parties from entering counting centres. They are being restricted from going towards the venue, and bombs are being hurled to intimidate counting agents,” voiced Suvendu Adhikari, leader of the Opposition.
Refuting the allegations, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh countered, “sensing defeat, they are making baseless allegations.” He accused the BJP of finding scapegoats for its impending defeat, blaming it on its own organisational failures.
The rural polls were tainted by violence on Saturday, resulting in 15 deaths and various acts of ballot vandalism, arson, and bomb-throwing incidents. Among the victims, 11 were associated with the TMC. The violence raised the total death toll since the announcement of the poll dates on June 8 to over 30.
The state’s history of violent rural elections is well known, with the 2003 panchayat polls notorious for its cumulative death toll of 76 during the poll process, with nearly 40 killed on the day of polling. This year’s poll-related violence claimed over 30 lives, a toll close to the one recorded during the previous panchayat elections in 2018.
However, unlike in the 2018 rural polls where the TMC won 34% of the seats without contest, this year, the Opposition fielded candidates in more than 90% of seats. In 2018, the TMC had secured victories in 90% of the panchayat seats and all the 22 zilla parishads, amidst claims of widespread violence and accusations from the Opposition that they were barred from filing nominations in multiple seats.
