5 killed and 400 people arrested in post-poll violence in West Bengal. 200 cases have been registered. Conflict has also erupted over control of fish ponds, a source of income.
Kolkata: Just after the elections are over in West Bengal, large scale violence is being seen in the state. Those who were allegedly exploited under the earlier TMC regime have now turned against them. In the last 48 hours, 5 people, including Chandranath Rath, a close aide of probable CM Suvendu Adhikari, have lost their lives in the violence. On the other hand, a fight has broken out in the state over the possession of fish ponds (‘Bheri’ in the local language).
State acting DGP Siddhanath Gupta said on Wednesday, ‘Around 400 people have been arrested across the state since the results were declared on May 4. More than 1000 people have been detained and 200 FIRs have been registered.
If we compare with the 2021 assembly elections, at that time there were 1900 incidents of violence, in which 29 people were killed and 345 people were arrested. This time, due to tight security arrangements, violence and deaths have reduced.
fight for ponds
Fisheries is one of the main sources of income in Bengal. Keeping this in view, thousands of ponds have been built in the state under ‘Pradhanmantri Matsya Sampada Yojana’, which are spread over an area of about 2.6 lakh hectares. For the last 15 years, when TMC was ruling the state, these ponds were completely controlled by people associated with TMC and no one else was allowed to use them. Now as the party has weakened in power, the demand to open these ponds for the common people has intensified. There was a violent clash between TMC and BJP workers in Sandeshkhali over this issue. During this period, five security personnel were injured in the firing.
BJP’s warning to workers
Amid allegations of attack by BJP supporters on TMC workers, party state president Sameek Bhattacharya has issued a warning. He has clearly said that ‘if anyone is found involved in such activities, he will be expelled from the party.’