Earlier, Trinamool Congress alleged that three of its party workers have been murdered in multiple incidents of violence in West Bengal after polling for the single-phase panchayat elections began in the state on Saturday morning.
A polling booth at Baravita Primary School in Sitai, Cooch Behar has been allegedly vandalised and ballot papers were set on fire after voting began for the single-phase panchayat polls in West Bengal.
After hectic campaigning and nominations scarred by violence polling for the Panchayat Polls in West Bengal began on Saturday morning under stringent security measures.
Ahead of the West Bengal panchayat elections, a clash broke out between Trinamool Congress and Congress workers on Friday night in the Shamsherganj area of Murshidabad district.
While the bombs fell silent under the watchful eyes of the central paramilitary forces, the war of words in West Bengal escalated just a day ahead of the panchayat elections on Saturday.
A search operation was underway ahead of the West Bengal panchayat polls, on Friday, after police received information that crude bombs and weapons have been stockpiled in the district, an official statement said on Friday.
West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose on Friday urged people to exercise their franchise on voting day saying that the "permanent solution" to everything lies in the "black ink on the index finger."
Ahead of the Panchayat election in West Bengal, the house of a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate was attacked allegedly by Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Friday.
The polls are likely to see a fierce tussle for control of local administrations between the ruling Trinamool Congress, Indian Secular Front and the Bharatiya Janata Party and will be a litmus test for both parties ahead of next year's Lok Sabha elections.
"Punjab Police, in a joint operation with West Bengal Police and Central agencies, has solved the firing incident in Batala after arresting the main accused from Alipurduar district, West Bengal. The entire module which was being handled from abroad has been unearthed. Financial investiga
"I don't think it's about strategic concerns. I think it's about human concerns. I think all of us, you don't have to be Indian to care when children or individuals die in the sort of violence that we see. And we know that peace is the precedent for so many other good things," Garcetti said