Death toll in India’s West Bengal poll violence rises to 18

Polling for village council members held Saturday for 73,887 seats in eastern West Bengal state

NEW DELHI:

The death toll in election-related violence in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal rose to 18, as the state voted for village council members, according to local media reports.

Reports indicate widespread violence, booth capturing and vandalism in several districts of the state in relation to elections for the councils, also known as panchayats.

According to ANI news agency, 10 members of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) were killed, three each from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress, and two from the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

Both the opposition and the governing parties have blamed each other for these deaths.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has called for imposing President’s Rule in the state, referring to the suspension of a state government and the imposition of direct rule of the central government.

Read more: Seven killed in Indian village election clashes

It has also demanded re-elections in several places.

Polling for the 73,887 seats took place on Saturday, with nearly 57 million voters deciding the fate of over 200,000 candidates.

The counting will take place on July 11th.

West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose visited many areas in the district of North 24 Parganas and met with injured victims of the violence, according to the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency.

Meanwhile, Bengal State Election Commissioner Rajiva Sinha said that a panel would look into complaints of vote tampering and violent incidents.

The decision about re-elections would be taken after receiving reports from observers and returning officers.