More than fifty persons from all parties lost their lives in a series of violent incidents during the just-concluded Panchayat Elections in West Bengal. Amid the violence, the Trinamool Congress, the Left and the Congress received a significant boost from the results, ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The Bharatiya Janata Party, on the other hand, witnessed a decline in vote share from the 2021 Assembly Elections in West Bengal. Since the State Election Commission announced the dates, this election had become more than just an ‘election’. The BJP and the Congress had demanded that central forces be roped-in in the hope of a peaceful and fair election; the Left had called for the Election Commission to be more watchful and accountable.