Murshidabad: Re-polling is underway in 697 booths across five districts of West Bengal on Monday following the violence during the panchayat polls in the state on July 8. The re-polling will be conducted in 697 booths across five districts: Purulia, Birbhum, Jalpaiguri, Nadia and South 24 Parganas, said West Bengal State Election Commission (SEC). The SEC, in an official release, said, "The West Bengal State Election Commision in the exercise of the powers conferred on it by sub-section-3 and sub-section-4 of Section-67 of the said Act, hereby fixes 10th day of July 2023, as the date of taking the fresh polls at 7:00 hours to be continued upto 17:00 hours uninterruptedly till completion and direct the District Panchayat Election Officer to fix the polling station at which polls will be taken". The Panchayat polls were held on July 8. Earlier on Sunday, alleging ballot rigging in the West Bengal panchayat polls which is marred by violence, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Khagen Murmu called for re-polling in Bengal, claiming that presiding officers and election staff were engaged in proxy voting in favour of the Trinamool Congress (TMC). WB panchayat elections: Re-polling underway in 697 booths in 5 districts Read @ANI Story | https://t.co/jF9x3xcElk#WestBengal #WestBengalPanchayatPolls pic.twitter.com/aKfR08cV9q — ANI Digital (@ani_digital) July 10, 2023 West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state general secretary Jagannath Chattopadhyay also wrote to the State Election Commission and demanded repolling. A total of 10 people were killed and several injured in violence reported across the state during the Panchayat poll. The three-tier panchayat elections in 20 out of 30 districts were marked by widespread violence, looting of ballots papers and rigging. There were reports of booth capturing, damaging of ballot boxes and assault of presiding officers from several districts such as Murshidabad, Cooch Behar, Malda, South 24 Parganas, North Dinajpur and Nadia.
