Amid violence, all set for panchayat polls in West Bengal on Saturday

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

West Bengal braces for the crucial three-tier panchayat polls on Saturday, which serves as a litmus test for the 2024 parliamentary elections and holds the power to reshape the state's political landscape. Around 5.67 crore voters are likely to exercise their franchise to choose representatives for nearly 928 seats across 22 zilla parishads, 9,730 panchayat samities, and 63,229 gram panchayats seats.

Since the day the polls were announced on June 8, widespread violence was reported in various parts of the state leading to the death of over a dozen people, including a teenager. Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee and the party's national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee led the party's campaign while stressing the need to shun strong-arm tactics by its cadres and allow more democratic space to the political opponents, to avoid the rerun of the 2018 rural polls when it had won around 34 per cent seats uncontested.BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar, national vice-president Dilip Ghosh, and leader of opposition Suvendu Adhikari led the saffron party's campaign, whereas state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and CPI(M) state secretary Mohammed Salim led their parties' respective poll drives.

The Indian Secular Front (ISF), with its limited presence in parts of North and South 24 Parganas, too grabbed headlines as its leader and lone MLA Nawsad Siddique led the party's campaign, which often resulted in clashes with the ruling TMC in Bhangor in South 24 Parganas. For the first time, Raj Bhavan played an active role in addressing the issue of poll violence, with Governor C V Ananda Bose opening a 'Peace Home' at the governor's house to address complaints of the aam aadmi.