After the first five hours of polling till 1.30 pm for the three-tier panchayat system in West Bengal, the polling percentage has been recorded at 36.66%. Since June 8, when the polls were announced, West Bengal has been witnessing widespread witness leading to the deaths of at least 12 persons on Saturday alone.
The highest number of deaths has been reported from Murshidabad at four, followed by two each in Malda and East Burdwan districts and once each from Nadia, South 24 Parganas, North Dinajpur and Cooch Behar districts. With these 12 deaths, the total death count since June 8 has increased to 31, with 19 recorded till Friday evening and 12 added since Saturday morning.
West Bengal Opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday afternoon directly called up the State Election Commissioner Rajiva Sinha and asked him “how much more blood would quench his thirst". Suvendu also threatened Sinha to conduct a march towards the State Election Commission after 6 pm on Saturday after the official polling time will conclude. He also threatened to conduct a march to the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s residence at Kalighat in South Kolkata. “We need to take out every brick from that house at Kalighat. Come what may, I am determined to continue my battle against Mamata Banerjee and bring her down from her throne,” he said.
For Trinamool Congress leaders like the party's Spokesperson Kunal Ghosh, the polling process is more or less peaceful except for some sporadic incidents of violence in selected pockets. “The violence is nothing compared to what is happening in Manipur. And as you can see among the casualties during the entire elections, the maximum number of victims had been from Trinamool Congress,” said Ghosh on Saturday afternoon.
Meanwhile, Congress leader and counsel of Calcutta High Court (HC) Koustav Bagchi has written a letter to the Calcutta HC Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam requesting the latter to take suo-moto cognisance of the panchayat poll violence and thereby declaring the election "null and void". A separate plea from the CPI(M) has been made to Justice Sivagnanam to show cause to the State Election Commissioner as to why orders of the Calcutta HC have not been given priority. The CPI(M) leadership has declared that a PIL will be filed at the Calcutta HC on Monday.