Elyas Muhammed Thumbe, National General Secretary of the Social Democratic Party of India strongly denounced the failure of the authorities in preventing and controlling the violence erupted during the local body elections today, in West Bengal, that resulted in the loss of 17 valuable human lives. The statement of the State Election Commissioner Sinha “We gave requisition on June 25 for 822 companies of Central forces and we gave details. If the Central government (had) sent us the whole Central forces quickly, we (would have) deployed them more successfully… They were able to send only 660 companies till polling day,” speaks volumes about the apathetic stand of the Union Government in providing enough personnel which would have helped saving those killed, and the dirty politics of the Union Government, said Elyas.

The alarming fact that around 60 – 75 percent of the victims are from the Muslim community points towards a conspiracy and elaborate plan to create a communal division and reap political harvest from the game.

The state government should act quickly to curb the violence, book the culprits and the conspirators, and to pay adequate ex-gratia aid to the kins of the killed, demanded Thumbe.