Upcoming by-polls in Bengal must be violence-free: Governor

West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday said the by-polls to three Assembly seats in the state on November 25 must be free from violence to erase memories of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in the eastern state which had created a "different" kind of impression. Asked to comment on the forthcoming by-polls, Dhankhar told reporters here, he was hopeful that the by-polls would be a milestone and show the world that "most peaceful elections are held in West Bengal".

"The by-elections must be violence-free. Last Lok Sabha elections created a different kind of impression. We need to get away from that," the governor, who had been recently involved in a war of words with the state government, said. Dhankhar was speaking to journalists after placing a wreath at the statue of Sardar Patel here.

"Let's hope the by-polls are free and fair.... And every voter has the right to exercise his franchise," he said. A Raj Bhavan statement issued later in the day said the governor "averred that the coming by-elections in the state would be held in a peaceful manner free from violence and the voters will fearlessly exercise their right to franchise.

"This will demonstrate to the whole nation that what happened in the Lok Sabha elections 2019, which were marred by violence, is a matter of past." The by-polls are scheduled to be held in Kharagpur Sadar seat in West Midnapore district, Karimpur in Nadia and Kaliaganj in Uttar Dinajpur which are presently held by the BJP, TMC and the Congress respectively. The Kaliaganj seat fell vacant after the death of sitting Congress MLA Parmathanath Roy while Kharagpur's BJP MLA Dilip Ghosh won the Medinipur Lok Sabha constituency.

TMC's Karimpur MLA Mahua Moitra emerged victorious from the Krishnnanagar Lok Sabha seat. The BJP had on several occasions alleged that its workers were killed in political violence unleashed by the Trinamool Congress.

The TMC, however, denied the charges and claimed that the BJP was trying to disturb the peaceful situation in the state. The BJP had also taken up the issue of the alleged attack on its activists with the governor..

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)