Lok Sabha MP and West Bengal Congress President Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury addressing a press conference in Kolkata. , Photo Credit: PTI
Congress will approach the court for deployment of central forces to ensure that the upcoming panchayat elections in West Bengal are held in a peaceful and fair manner.
State Congress President Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary claimed that as the panchayat elections are coming closer, an atmosphere of terror is being created.
Read this also | Bengal BJP launches mass contact program ahead of rural polls
The dates for the panchayat elections are yet to be announced. However, the election is expected to be held within a few months.
“The officials of the state government will not be able to conduct the elections peacefully. That’s why deployment of central forces is necessary. The Congress will approach the court as soon as the election dates are announced,” Mr. Chowdhary told reporters.
The Lok Sabha MP said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee should assure the people of the state that there would be no bloodshed during the rural polls.
He said that there was violence in the last panchayat elections and many people lost their lives.
“Many people could not vote because they were beaten up. If it cannot happen peacefully then it should not happen at all.
Mr. Chowdhary also said that the Congress is always ready to join hands with the Left parties as they have done in the recent Sagardighi bypolls and Tripura assembly elections in the state.
“We have never sided with the Left, but the Left had distanced itself in the past… I have no problem if they forge an alliance with us,” he said.
In response to a question, Mr. Chaudhary said that the time has come to actively consider the recommendations of the Punchhi Commission on Centre-State relations.
He also claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee have the same “political DNA”.
But Arrest of Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish SisodiaMr. Chaudhary said that the Congress has never indulged in vendetta politics.