Kharge condemns Bengal panchayat polls violence

Speaking about the violence during the West Bengal Panchayat Polls on July 8, Congress Chief Mallikarjun Kharge on July 9 said that there should be a fair election or else no democracy will prevail. He also condemned the violence that took place across West Bengal. "I condemn this (violence during West Bengal Panchayat elections) because there should be fair elections otherwise there will be no democracy," said Congress Chief Mallikarjun Kharge A total of 10 people were killed and several injured in violence reported across the state during the panchayat polls. 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. Polling began at 7 am amid tight security in the state in 73,887 seats in rural areas of West Bengal, with 5.67 crore people deciding the fate of around 2.06 lakh candidates.