Mamata Banerjee’s TMC outclasses BJP in West Bengal panchayat polls
TMC workers celebrate
Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) pulled off a spectacular victory in West Bengal rural polls, as it established an unassailable lead over its rival Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP).
According to the state Election Commission’s data till 10:30 pm on Tuesday, TMC was leading in 28,985 gram panchayat seats, the BJP won 7,764 seats, whereas the Communist Party of India (Marxist) won 2,409 seats and the Congress won 2,022 seats. The counting is still underway.
The elections were hugely anticipated by many as they were considered the bell weather for the 2024 general elections.
The counting of votes for the three-tier panchayat polls, which saw a multi-front battle for 74,000 seats, began on Tuesday morning.
Violence across West Bengal
The election was marred with violence and at least 15 people lost their lives. The polling body had to announce re-elections on 696 booths on Monday amid allegations of ballot box tampering.
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The situation was no different on Tuesday morning, as local media reported that bombs were hurled near a counting centre in Murshidabad and the police resorted to baton-charge to control crowds in Howrah.
Mamata thanks people
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee thanked the people of West Bengal for the TMC's huge win in the panchayat elections.
"It's TMC all the way in rural Bengal. I want to thank the people for their love, affection, and support towards the TMC. This election has proved that only TMC resides in the heart of the people of the state," Banerjee said in a Facebook post.
Senior TMC leader and Mamata’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee also thanked the people of rural West Bengal for handing the party a spectacular victory.
Taking a dig at the leader of the opposition, BJP‘s Suvendu Adhikari, he said the campaign of "No Vote to Mamata" has turned into "Now Vote for Mamata".
"Grateful to the people for converting Oppn's 'NO VOTE TO MAMATA' campaign to 'NOW VOTE FOR MAMATA.' With unwavering support to #TrinamooleNaboJowar, we'll surely have a roaring mandate, paving the way for LS elections. Bengal, I thank you for all the love (sic)," he tweeted.
BJP blames TMC for violence
The BJP, on the other hand, accused the state government of using violence to its advantage to win the elections.
“We have no hope from this election (panchayat election) after the kind of violence that took place earlier. This is not a mandate because Mamta Banerjee's goons forcefully got the polls done. The central security force was not allowed to reach, and there were no CCTVs in the polling stations. We have lost in many centres by 2,4,24 votes. Our victory in West Bengal is that people are coming on the road to defeat TMC,” West Bengal BJP General Secretary Agnimitra Paul said.
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