Panchayat Elections: Banerje plans districts tour to relate no-violence message to booth-level workers

Trinamool Congress (TMC) Chairperson and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has announced a plan to pass a no-violence message to workers across districts.

Banerjeer disclosed this at a meeting of the party’s national working committee in Kolkata, stressing that she would meet panchayat and booth-level workers and drive home the message.

She stated at the meeting that she would not tolerate any violence during the panchayat elections.

According to a report, in the 2018 panchayat polls, the TMC won 35 per cent of the seats uncontested but faced allegations of large-scale violence and rigging.

The report adds that the following year, the ruling party’s performance in the Lok Sabha elections took a hit, with the BJP winning 18 parliamentary constituencies — its best-ever performance in the general elections in West Bengal.

After the assembly elections last year, the TMC again faced allegations of perpetrating widespread violence against BJP workers and the cases related to the violence went to the Central Bureau of Investigation following the Calcutta High Court’s directions.

According to party insiders, the CM is concerned about a similar fallout of recent violence on the 2024 Lok Sabha election results.

In recent months, the murder of student leader Anis Khan, the intra-TMC conflict in Birbhum that left 10 people dead, and a rape case in Nadia in which a local TMC leader’s son has been arrested have brought the ruling party bad press.

At the May 5 meeting in Kolkata, it was decided that the chief minister would kick-start the tour of districts with visits to Medinipur and Jhargram from May 10, but the tour was rescheduled to May 17-19 because of Cyclone Asani.