The counting of votes for the West Bengal panchayat elections is underway, with tight security in place. The counting will be done in six phases. The elections were marred by violence, with over 33 people killed in political clashes across the state since the date of the polls was announced. Of these, 18 people were killed on the day of polling.
Polling was held on July 8 in over 61,000 booths for the three-tier panchayat elections, with a voter turnout of 80.71%. In several places, ballot boxes were looted, set on fire, and thrown in ponds, leading to violence. The extent of the violence on voting day was such that repolling had to be done in nearly 696 booths.
Over 5.6 crore people living in rural Bengal were eligible to cast their votes in the elections, which saw over 206,000 candidates battling for 73,887 seats.
The counting of votes is expected to take several days, and the results are not yet known. However, the violence that marred the elections has cast a shadow over the process, and raised concerns about the future of democracy in West Bengal.