The death toll in election-related violence in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal rose to 18, as the state voted for village council members, according to local media reports.
Reports indicate widespread violence, booth capturing, and vandalism in several districts of the state in relation to elections for the councils, also known as panchayats.
According to ANI news agency, 10 members of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) were killed, three each from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress, and two from the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
Both the opposition and the governing parties have blamed each other for these deaths.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has called for imposing President’s Rule in the state, referring to the suspension of a state government and the imposition of direct rule of the central government.
It has also demanded re-elections in several places.
Polling for the 73,887 seats took place on Saturday, with nearly 57 million voters deciding the fate of over 200,000 candidates.
The counting will take place on July 11th.
West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose visited many areas in the district of North 24 Parganas and met with injured victims of the violence, according to the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency.
Later in the day, ANI reported that the State Election Commission had announced re-polling be held in 697 booths spread across five districts of West Bengal on July 10.
The new agency quoted a statement issued by the commission which said re-polling would be held in Purulia, Birbhum, Jalpaiguri, and South 24 Parganas tomorrow.__Dawn.com
