The voting on July 8 was deemed invalid due to alleged cheating, booth capturing, and numerous accusations of electoral misconduct and voter intimidation. As a result, 696 panchayat booths underwent re-polling. The fate of the candidates will be decided after the counting on Tuesday.On Tuesday, the counting of the ballot started at 8 am. Notably, several people were killed in the rioting on July 8, the initial election day. According to the sources, 37 people have lost their lives, including 18 who were killed on polling day on Saturday.In West Bengal, a total of 5.67 crore people living in rural areas were eligible to vote to elect the candidate on 73,887 seats of gram panchayat.The officials have confirmed that all the counting centres will have an adequate deployment of central forces, which will be monitored by CCTV cameras.#WATCH | West Bengal Panchayat polls result 2023: Security deployed at counting centre. Visuals from Narayantala Ramkrishna Vidhya Mandir, South 24 Parganas. pic.twitter.com/gvj7Sj85eD— ANI (@ANI) July 11, 2023It is anticipated that the outcome of the polls would also indicate where the BJP, the principal opposition party in the state, stands in West Bengal ahead of next years Lok Sabha elections.Meanwhile, the National President of BJP, JP Nadda has nominated a four-member team to visit the violence-affected areas in West Bengal. The committee has been asked to submit the report to the party president at the earliest. Notably, the delegation will reach the states capital on Tuesday to proceed further.
