West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose on Friday said that political violence will not be tolerated, asserting that 'there will be action and no alibi for inaction.'
Bose said this after visiting Bhangore in South 24 Parganas district, where supporters of two political parties clashed on Thursday, the concluding day of nomination filing for the panchayat election, leaving three persons dead.
"Some undesirable incidents have happened in some parts of Bengal. I have made my inferences about them. No violence will be tolerated and we will have to end it. There will be action and no alibi for inaction," Bose said.
People of the state have the right to exercise their franchise to vote fearlessly, the governor said assuring the voters that the "perpetrators of violence would be permanently silenced" and would be brought to book.
The governor said he has already discussed the situation with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
"The CM is my constitutional colleague. What we discussed cannot be revealed outside. Certainly, whatever is expected of the governor under the Constitution will be done,"
"I interacted with the victims of violence and the locals. I can assure the people of Bengal that violence will be the first victim in this election,” Bose told reporters after taking stock of the situation at Bhangore, around 30 km from Kolkata.
The governor spent almost two hours interacting with the locals, and administrative and police officials before meeting Indian Secular Front activists.
The local MLA, Naushad Siddique, belongs to that party.
Reaching Bhangore, Bose went to Bhangore Block No. 1, some parts of which he moved in his convoy, before walking through Bijoyganj Bazar, the centre point of Thursday's violence, and asking people about the clashes and the role of the police to contain the violence.
Bose also visited the BDO office before going to Bhangar Block 2 and held closed-door meetings with ISF activists inside a college before meeting police officers there.
"The governor has enquired about yesterday's clashes. He also questioned whether police were present when the clashes took place and what was their role," an official said, adding that he briefed Bose in detail.
A local ISF leader said they told the governor how the party workers were "tortured by TMC supporters”.
"We have also told him how we were threatened not to file nominations for the election. The governor has assured us of looking into the matter," he said after meeting Bose.
The chief minister on Thursday claimed that her party workers were not involved in violence.
Bhangore was the scene of political clashes earlier between the ISF, a party floated by a Muslim cleric, and the ruling TMC. Thursday's violence there left two persons dead and several injured, of whom one succumbed in a hospital this morning.
Besides Bhangore, violence had marred the nomination filing process on Thursday in several other districts. In all, five people died as a result of clashes since June 8, the first day of filing nomination papers.
The police seized seven bags of crude bombs from the Bhangore area. The bombs were later defused, an officer said.
