NEW DELHI: Though the counting of votes for the violence-marred July 8 panchayat elections in West Bengal are still counting and the results are yet to be declared, it is almost evident that the ruling Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) has swept it with the BJP as a distant second.
Election was held for 63,229 gram panchayat seats, 9,730 panchayat samiti seats and 928 zilla parishad seats in 22 districts of the state. Repolling took place on July 10 on 697 of the 61,636 booths due to poll-related irregularities.
Out of the 3,317 seats of gram panchayats for which results have been announced, TMC has won 2,552, 232 panchayat samitis and 12 out of 20 zilla parishads.
The BJP was a distant second, winning only 212 gram panchayats, 7 panchayat samitis. It failed to win any zilla parishads.
The TMC workers are celebrating the party’s success. However, the BJP says it has reasons to feel satisfied with the opposition party’s performance.
The BJP had won 5,779 gram panchayat seats in 2018. It claims the party has won 9,513 seats in this election.
As far as panchayat samitis are concerned, the BJP had won 769 seats in 2018. It claims to have won 1011 seats so far, when the counting is still in progress.
2018 gram panchayat election results
Out of the total 48,636 gram panchayat seats in 2018, TMC had won 38,118 by garnering 78.4% of the votes polled.
The BJP had won 5,779 seats by pocketing 11.9% vote share. CPM had won 1,483 seats by getting 3% votes and the Congress had won 1066 seats by receiving 2.2% votes.
2018 panchayat samiti election results
Out of the total 9,214 panchayat samiti seats in 2018, TMC had won 8,062 and got 87.5% votes.
The BJP had won 769 seats and bagged 8.3% votes. CPM had won 110 seats and got 1.2% votes while the Congress had won 133 seats and got 1.4% votes.
2018 zilla parishad election results
Out of the total 824 zilla parishad seats in 2018, TMC had won 793 seats by getting 96.2% votes.
The BJP had won 22 seats by getting 2.7% votes. The Congress had won 6 seats by getting 0.7% votes while All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) had won only 1 seat and got a meagre 0.1% votes.
The BJP’s progress has been seen in these five years. It was hardly in the picture in the 2013 panchayat election.
2013 panchayat election results
Out of a total 3,215 gram panchayats, TMC won 1,812 seats. The Left Front won 749 seats while the Congress won 240 and 393 bodies were hung.
Among the panchayat samitis, out of 330 blocks, TMC won 219, Left Front won 68 while the Congress won 20.
What the BJP says
BJP co-in-charge of West Bengal and head of party’s information technology department Amit Malviya said in a tweet on Wednesday, “West Bengal panchayat polls were marred with widespread violence and state sponsored killings. Despite brutal oppression, active collusion between the ruling TMC, SEC (State Election Commission), police and civil administration, the BJP has surpassed its 2018 tally and is way ahead of Congress, Left, ISF and others put together. BJP is the principal opposition party and will unseat Mamata Banerjee, soon.”
Malviya further said, “The BJP’s performance in-fact is far better than what has been declared so far. In several places, the result has been altered on instruction of the ruling TMC, vote in favour of the BJP declared invalid to let the TMC candidate win, winning certificates of the BJP candidate torn and worse. In several counting booths, TMC MLAs along with local administration, forced results in their favour. All this is being challenged in the court.”
But, he said, the silver lining in all this is the massive resistance put up by the BJP and people in the villages, who refused to let TMC goons have their way. “This time, the TMC won far fewer seats uncontested, despite attempts to stop BJP candidates from filing nominations. It captured booths, rigged voting, changed ballot boxes and influenced counting, but still could not stop the BJP’s rise. It does not stop there. BJP candidates won gram panchayat seats in booths with 100% Muslim population,” he said
Malviya said the signs are ominous for Mamata’s TMC. “It is a syndicate of criminals and not a political party. TMC will be buried deep under, in the coming elections, and the credit for it will go entirely to the people of Bengal and BJP karyakartas.”
He said, “The abiding image of this panchayat election was a BJP candidate, from a modest background, being welcomed home by his mother with his sister blowing the conch shell, after his resounding (TMC lost deposit in the booth) win in the gram panchayat poll.”
Meanwhile, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra, quoting newspaper reports, said the violence has been increasing over the years. He blamed the ruling TMC for the poll-related violence and malpractices.
He said 45 people were killed between the announcement of nomination on June 8 and till now. He said 23 people were killed in the 2018 panchayat election and 15 had lost their lives in the 2013 panchayat election.
