Nine candidates who have won in West Bengal panchayat elections and a CPI(M) contestant have fled to neighbouring Assam on Wednesday following alleged attacks by workers of the Trinamool Congress, saffron party leaders in the northeastern state claimed.
On Tuesday, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said 133 people from West Bengal have taken shelter in the state, fearing for their lives because of the panchayat election violence back home.
Five BJP candidates who won from Chilakhana-II gram panchayat under Tufanganj assembly constituency in Coochbehar district reached here, Dhubri district BJP president Prosenjit Dutta told media persons here.
The other four BJP candidates who fled their homes came from Balarampur-II gram panchayat under the Natabari assembly constituency of the same district.
A CPI(M) candidate Noor Mohammad also fled along with his family from his home in Coochbehar district to Dhubri alleging that Trinamool Congress workers had attacked him and his supporters.
Dutta said that all arrangements regarding food, water, medical and security facilities have been made for these people.
Assam BJP president Bhabesh Kalita told reporters: “Democracy has been murdered in West Bengal and there is goonda Raj in the neighbouring state.”
''West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee should take lessons from how polls are conducted in Assam. Panchayat, assembly, and parliamentary elections have been conducted under the BJP rule since 2016 and there have been no incidents of violence,'' Kalita said.
He alleged that there was no governance in West Bengal and the Trinamool Congress won elections by resorting to violence and rigging.