Democracy has ended in Bengal: BJP fact-finding committee on poll violence in state

The fact-finding team of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by the former union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who came to West Bengal on July 12 to take account of the violence that took place during Panchayat elections, suggested that all the cases need to be investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under the observation of Kolkata High Court.

In the report submitted to party president JP Nadda, the committee alleged that during the time of the polls, the state witnessed a “sickening symbol of shameful democracy.”

The four-member team visited the houses of the victims whose houses were demolished and ransacked during the violence. As per the report submitted by the committee, the majority of these cases belonged to the marginalized section of society and Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribe. The report added that the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government has turned a blind eye to the conditions of the people of the state.

The committee also noted that the local police and the administration were practising a discriminatory attitude towards these communities. The Fact-Finding Committee recommended that the CBI investigates all the cases under the supervision of the Calcutta High Court.

In addition, the committee also suggested that all the instances related to bomb blasts be referred to NIA for investigation as it constitutes a scheduled offence.