New Delhi: BJP’s five-member fact-finding central team on panchayat poll violence submitted its report to party president J P Nadda last week after visiting the state. The committee headed by senior party leader Ravi Shankar Prasad, which travelled over 2,000 km in the violence-hit areas, suggested that all cases of panchayat poll-related violence should be investigated by a Calcutta high court-monitored CBI team.
The panel also recommended that all bomb blast cases need to be referred to the NIA for investigation. “The state government’s arrogance and utter disrespect for democratic processes are dismaying. BJP will continue to fight for the people’s voice in West Bengal in a democratic way,” Nadda said after receiving the report.
The committee alleged that a “sickening symbol of shameful democracy” was witnessed during the panchayat elections. It is necessary for the country to know that democracy has ended in Bengal, Prasad, who was the convener of the fact-finding committee, said.
Prasad claimed that an “overpowering fear” became the hallmark of these polls and cited several incidents of violence, including killings, and the suffering of the families targeted for political reasons. The state police, civil authorities and a “cooperative” state election committee facilitated this, Prasad said.
He adding that the committee has demanded that all cases of violence be probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as the state police and the administration are complicit and biased.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) should investigate the cases involving bomb explosion as it is a scheduled offence, Prasad said. “What is happening Mamata ji? This is condemnable,” he said, showing pictures of violence and vandalisation of properties of political targets, most of whom, Prasad added, were from deprived and backward communities. It appeared that the entire machinery was used to ensure win for the state’s ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and attack its rivals, he said.