West Bengal BJP leader Nripen Mondal shot dead as polls loom

Kolkata: A slew of political violence relating to the upcoming panchayat (village council) elections continues unabated in West Bengal.

State Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Nripen Mondal was shot dead by unknown assailants in Malda district late on Sunday night. Mondal was the leader of the opposition in the Habibpur panchayat committee and a zila parishad (district council) candidate in the upcoming panchayat elections in the state.

According to the police, 15 unknown assailants surrounded and fired at Mondal’s car while he was returning from campaigning. Mondal died on the spot. The BJP leader’s driver was critically injured in the attack and admitted to the district hospital where he remains. Police suspect that terrorists owing allegiance to the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO) could be behind the attack, though no arrests have been made so far.

BJP has blamed the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) for the attack and has called a 12-hour strike in the area. “TMC is killing all our prospective leaders before the election so that we could not make a major political dent in the state,” said state BJP president Rahul Sinha.

Until now, more than 2,000 political activist from all political parties have been injured and more than 20 people have been murdered since the violence erupted. Last week, a former legislator of the Left Front was murdered in broad daylight.

These incidents have made the State Election Commission (SEC) apprehensive about conducting the polls in July as per court orders if they are not assured of adequate security. In a letter to the state government, the SEC has asked for a clarification about the exact number of forces that the state government will be able to provide for the three-phase-poll by Wednesday.

“We are extremely worried with the political violence that has been taking place in the districts over the weeks before the elections. A very high percentage of seats are being won without any contest, is also a major concern. If we do not get adequate security from the state government, we may have to ask the High Court to postpone the elections till the time there is assurance about availability of security forces,” said SEC commissioner Mira Pandey. “If SEC is unable to conduct the elections for any reason, as per declared schedule, the state government is responsible for the same,” she added.