Malda (WB): A three-year-old son of an elected BJP panchayat member, who later switched to the TMC, received bullet injuries on the head as clashes continued between parties over the formation of panchayat boards in the district’s Manikchak area, police said.
The boy, identified as Mrinal, is the son of Putul Mondal who won the rural body election in Manikchak village on a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) had allegedly tried to lure Mondal with money after the Manikchak gram panchayat elections on August 28 and 29.
The BJP won 10 seats, Trinamool six, while the Congress and an independent candidate won a seat each. When the members went to elect the pradhan, the BJP and Trinamool were tied at nine votes but the saffron party won the posts of pradhan and deputy pradhan in a lottery to break the tie.
A BJP leader claimed that the Trinamool promised Mondal an amount between Rs 5-7 lakh but when she went to demand the money, she was turned down as the TMC had not succeeded in forming a board.
The attack led to a war of words, with both the BJP and the TMC accusing each other of orchestrating the attack on the child who is said to be critical.
On Tuesday, three people were killed and 17 others injured in group clashes over formation of a panchayat board in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district.
On August 27, two persons were killed and four injured in Malda as violence erupted over formation of panchayat boards in some districts of West Bengal, even as chief minister Mamata Banerjee appealed for maintaining peace.
(With PTI inputs)
Comments
0 comment