New Delhi, September 19
BJP leader and Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari has urged the party’s central leadership to ensure deployment of central forces during the coming panchayat polls slated to be held in the state in coming February.
In the last panchayat elections held in the state in 2018, the BJP won 6,570 out of a total of 58,692 seats in the three-tier panchayat system. However, in one of the most violent panchayat polls in the state, the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) won 34 per cent of the seats uncontested. The Opposition had accused the ruling party of using violence to stop rival candidates from filing nominations.
BJP president JP Nadda recently appointed Mangal Pandey as the in-charge of the party unit in Bengal. According to BJP sources, Sevendu, during a closed-door meeting of the party held in Kolkata last week, requested Pandey to arrange Central forces for the rural polls.
Exposing the Bengal unit’s heavy dependence on the party’s national leadership, Adhikari also requested Pandey to devise a way to prevent rigging during the counting of votes.
