BJP forms 4-member committee to look into post-poll violence in West Bengal

NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday constituted a four-member committee to visit West Bengal and "take immediate stock" of the post-poll violence.
The committee includes ex-Tripura CM Biplab Kumar Deb, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Brij Lal and Kavita Patidar, all BJP MPs, with Deb as its convener. The committee has been formed by BJP chief J P Nadda.
"Mamata Banerjee remains a mute spectator, while criminals of her party, attack and intimidate opposition workers and voters with impunity.Even the Calcutta High Court has taken note of these excesses and extended deployment of CAPF till June 21 and has listed the matter for hearing on June 18," read the party's statement.
The BJP said the Lok Sabha elections were held across the country and no instance of political violence was reported from anywhere except West Bengal.
"It continues to be in the vice grip of post-poll violence, the kind we saw post 2021 assembly elections," the BJP alleged.
Earlier on Friday, West Bengal governor C V Ananda Bose criticised the state government for preventing alleged victims of post-poll violence from entering the Raj Bhavan despite his office granting permission.
He described the incident as "unconstitutional" and called for a response from chief minister Mamata Banerjee, which he has not yet received.
Governor Bose, who visited a shelter earlier in the day to meet victims, expressed regret over the government's lack of response.
"I'm waiting for some inputs from the government on the issue of post-poll violence and then I will be able to give you my comments. At the outset, I regret to say that there has been no response from the government," he stated to reporters at the Raj Bhavan.
In response to incidents of post-poll violence in Bengal, the Election Commission decided to deploy 400 companies of central forces till June 19.
Earlier, EC planned to keep the forces in the state till June 6. However, after several incidents, the decision was made to extend their presence due to concerns about potential violence following the announcement of poll results.
A senior official said that the withdrawal of forces would be contingent on the post-poll situation. He noted that in 2021, numerous cases of post-poll violence were reported, leading CBI to register 40 cases following the directives of Calcutta high court.
(With PTI inputs)