‘Maut ka yeh khela…’: Smriti Irani’s question to Rahul Gandhi on Bengal panchayat violence

Union minister Smriti Irani on Sunday hit out at the ruling Trinamool Congress for the deadly violence during the West Bengal panchayat election held on Saturday and asked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi if such incidents were acceptable to him as his party joined the Opposition unity ahead of the Lok Sabha elections scheduled for the next year.

West Bengal reported at least 18 deaths and witnessed several incidents of violence and arson during the voting for the three-tiered panchayat polls in rural parts of the state. The election saw a fierce fight between the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which has emerged as the number two political party in the state. Saturday’s polls also serve as a litmus test for the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

“The way people are witnessing the killing of democracy in the panchayat elections in West Bengal, where people are being killed for asserting their democratic rights. The Congress is joining hands with the same Trinamool Congress. Is it acceptable for the Gandhi family to join hands with them, who are creating havoc in West Bengal? Does Rahul Gandhi accept this game of death (maut ka khela)?” Irani told reporters in Bhopal.

While Gandhi is yet to comment on the Bengal violence, state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary alleged that Mamata Banerjee’s hands were “full of blood”.

‘Your hands are full of blood’: Adhir Ranjan to Mamata

“The situation in the state and particularly in Murshidabad is very tense and hostile…I want to ask CM Mamata Banerjee what kind of democracy to you want? Your hands are full of blood,” Chowdhary said after visiting the hospital in Murshidabad on Saturday to meet the family member of a 62-year-old man who was killed in a bombing incident following the panchayat polls.

The bombing incident allegedly took place when miscreants were trying to loot the polling booth on panchayat poll day.

TMC hits back at Opposition

The Banerjee-led TMC hit out at the opposition parties, including the Congress, in the state who were clamouring for the deployment of central forces in West Bengal amid the violence, questioning where were the central forces at the time of violence which claimed several lives.

Taking a jibe, the TMC said the death toll due to the election-related incidents is mounting under the “close supervision of Central Forces”.

Suvendu Adhikari calls for Centre’s intervention

Attacking the TMC, BJP MLA Suvendu Adhikari said the state is burning and the Central government should intervene with Article 355 or Article 356 (President’s Rule). He alleged that more than 20,000 booths have been captured by hooligans of the ruling party in the state in the presence of police.