BackBengal panchayat poll violence: Purulia DM takes away winner’s certificate from BJP candidate
Adip Mondal was found to be a voter of Jharkhand, said District Magistrate Alokesh Prasad Roy
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Kolkata: Amid escalating violence in West Bengal over the formation of panchayat boards, the district magistrate of Purulia seized the winner’s certificate issued to a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate, set to become the pradhan or the chief of a village council.
District Magistrate Alokesh Prasad Roy said he had personally ordered the seizure of the certificate because it was found that the victorious BJP candidate Adip Mondal was a voter of Jharkhand. He was supposed to become the pradhan of the Ghaghra gram panchayat, where two BJP leaders were killed in clashes on Monday.
The district magistrate was given the mandate to ensure that the board was controlled by the ruling Trinamool Congress, alleged Bidyasagar Chakraborty, BJP’s district president for Purulia. Though Chakraborty admitted that Mondal used to live in Jharkhand earlier, there was a scheduled caste certificate issued in West Bengal, he claimed.
If Mondal was allowed to contest the election on the basis of documents furnished to the State Election Commission, how could the district administration now step in and set aside the certificate, Chakraborty questioned. The BJP, which was fast making inroads in Purulia, formed 22 panchayat boards in the district, according to Chakraborty.
Meanwhile, the district administration of Purulia put on hold the formation of at least 32 boards in view of political clashes. District magistrate Roy said the law and order situation was “not favourable" for carrying out the exercise immediately. In North Dinajpur district, too, the administration had to put on hold the formation of boards in view of escalating violence.
On Monday, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said that “outsiders" had launched an attack on the police and at least one policeman was seriously injured.
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