BJP constitutes four-member fact-finding committee to probe West Bengal panchayat poll violence
Jul 10, 2023
New Delhi [India], July 10 : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has constituted a four-member fact-finding committee on Monday under the leadership of BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad to probe the cases of violence that broke out in West Bengal on the day of Panchayat polls.
"We hope that we will be allowed to visit. We are going tomorrow," BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad said speaking to ANI.
The senior BJP MP expressed disappointment over the state of violence in the state. "We will visit the places where violence broke out. We will meet the victims," he said.
Slamming the ruling Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal, he said, "This is democracy. You speak about democracy. How is democracy functioning in Bengal?"
Questioning the silence of other opposition parties in Bengal, he asked, "Why are other opposition parties silent? CPI, CPM, Rahul Gandhi. Mamatadi blames PM Narendra Modi that democracy is being trampled upon!"
Earlier in the day, West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose met Union Home Minister Amit Shah here. The meeting assumes significance as it was scheduled just two days after the violence in West Bengal Panchayat elections on Saturday which has claimed over a dozen lives in the state.
The State Election Commission on Sunday said that police have confirmed 10 deaths in poll-related violence. There were reports of booth capturing, damage to ballot boxes and assault of presiding officers from several districts such as Murshidabad, Cooch Behar, Malda, South 24 Parganas, North Dinajpur and Nadia.
The counting of votes will start at 8 am on Tuesday. All counting centres will have a deployment of Central forces and CCTV cameras installed.
