Two workers of Congress, BJP killed as Bengal gears up for panchayat polls

Kolkata: As West Bengal gears up for the panchayat polls, a Congress and a BJP worker were allegedly murdered in Murshidabad and Birbhum districts, respectively in the last 24 hours. The fresh casualties take the total number of pre-poll deaths to 19.

Governor CV Ananda Bose appealed to people to cast their franchise and said he will be on the roads on the election day and will return to Raj Bhawan only after the polling. "All voters should go to polling booths and exercise their voting rights according to their conscience...Every vote is important. Saturday is the day when people can find permanent solutions to the problems they are facing including violence. The right to vote is the highest and mightiest right in the world and democracy... We expect a very peaceful election to take place," the Governor said. Meanwhile, Bose took stock of the violence-hit areas. He visited houses of several pre-poll violence victims in Murshidabad's Nabagram and Khargram.

On the day of Bose's visit, a Congress worker allegedly died due to violence in Murshidabad's Raninnagar. A group of Trinamool workers allegedly beat a Congress worker Aurobindo Mondal while a BJP worker was found dead at Mohammad Bazar's Serenda village in Birbhum district on Thursday morning. Dilip Mahara, whose wife is contesting as an Independent candidate in the Panchayat polls tomorrow, was an active BJP worker.


West Bengal Pradesh Congress president, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said, "Another death has been gifted to us by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. We will dig the grave of Trinamool in Bengal.

"In Howrah-Bali's Jagachha, bombs were hurled at a CPM candidate's house. At least 200 crude bombs were seized from Birbhum's Dubrajpur which was disposed of by a bomb disposal team on Friday.

CAPF Deployment
Despite Calcutta HCt's order to deploy 822 companies of CAPF, till now around156 companies have been sent to the state for the panchayat polls. In a rare move, the Home Ministry on Friday has approved airlifting of five companies and two platoons of CAPF from Leh.