West Bengal Governor sets up control room for panchayat poll grievances

West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose has set up a control room at Raj Bhavan where representation from the people will be received on threats and intimidation ahead of the panchayat election in the State.

West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose has set up a control room at Raj Bhavan where representation from the people will be received on threats and intimidation ahead of the panchayat election in the State.

Since the notification of panchayat election on June 8, seven political workers have been killed in the State. On Sunday, a BJP supporter was murdered in Cooch Behar district. Voting for the election will be held on July 8.

A statement from Raj Bhavan described the control room as ‘Peace Room’ and added that ‘Peace Room’ will refer the issues to the government and State Election Commission (SEC) for appropriate action.

The development comes after the Governor visited Bhangar and Canning, areas in South 24 Parganas district that were rocked by violence, during the nomination process for panchayat election. During his visit to Canning on Saturday the Governor had said that “mobocracy” was taking over at some places and there was deterioration of democracy.  

“In continuation of the frequent field visits of the Governor to the violence-affected areas and in view of the numerous representations received from the citizens on the criminal intimidation in pre-poll Bengal, a help room has been opened in Raj Bhavan to respond to the grievances of the public,” a press statement from the Raj Bhavan said.

While the Opposition parties welcomed the initiative the Trinamool Congress leadership said that the Governor was exceeding his jurisdiction with such initiatives.

Citizens can approach the ‘Peace Room’ by sending an email to OSD2w.b.governor@gmail.com and 033-22001641.