Trinamool turning Bengal panchayat polls into a farce: LF Chairman

Kolkata, April 3 (IANS) Left Front Chairman Biman Bose on Tuesday accused West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress of indulging in large-scale violence to deter Left candidates from submitting their nominations for the upcoming Panchayat polls while the State Election Commission's orders favour the ruling party, thereby turning the election into a farce.

"The amount of violence that took place within one day of the issuance of public notice inviting nomination of the Panchayat polls here, is unprecedented. A number of our party candidates and workers were terrorised and attacked by the state's ruling party in a number of blocks and districts," Bose told reporters here

"A good number of our candidates couldn't submit their nomination due to this attack. At certain places, the nomination form did not even reach the candidates even after the official announcement of the polls. Such is the role of our election commission," he alleged.

Bose claimed that certain parts of East Bardhaman district like Katwa, Galsi, Mangalkote "have been totally captured" by the Trinamool and no other political parties are allowed to enter there.

"Efforts to turn the election into a farce are dangerous. Trinamool Congress is bragging about conducting an opposition-free election in the Panchayat polls," he said.

Criticising the role of the State Election Commission, he said there was a five-day gap between the last day of submitting the nomination and its withdrawal.

"This long gap has been deliberately given so that Trinamool Congress can play its role to pressurise and influence other party candidates to withdraw their nomination," he claimed.

Condemning the incidents of clashes in West Bengal's Raniganj-Asansol area over Ram Navami celebrations, Bose said the incidents are a grim reminder of the 1964 riot in Kolkata.

"The incidents centering Ram Navami has led to a dangerous situation in some parts of the state. People are unanimously saying that such a situation never arose here after 1964. The fear is not limited to places like Raniganj, Asansol or Kankinara where the violence took place but the entire state is feeling the heat," he said.

Bose also added that 17 parties under the Left Front would participate in the intellectuals' rally against communalism in the city on April 8, without any party flag or banner.