2023 West Bengal local elections

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2023 West Bengal Panchayat elections
Flag of India.svg
  2018 8 July 20232028 

63,229 Gram Panchayat
9,730 Panchayat Samiti
928 Zilla Parishad
Turnout80.71% (Decrease2.svg1.46 pp) [1]
 Majority partyMinority partyThird party
  All India Trinamool Congress symbol 2021.svg CPIM election symbol.png
Leader Mamata Banerjee Sukanta Majumdar Mohammed Salim
Party AITC BJP CPI(M)
Leader since5 June 202120 September

2021

16 March 2022
Popular vote51%23%14%
SwingDecrease2.svg21%Increase2.svg10%Increase2.svg8%
Gram Panchayat4410599903242
Panchayat Samiti78551,074196
Zilla Parishad879312

 Fourth partyFifth party
  Hand INC.svg Indian Election Symbol Envelope.jpg
Leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury Nawsad Siddique
Party INC ISF
Leader since20 September 202121 January 2021
Popular vote7%2%
SwingIncrease2.svg2%New
Gram Panchayat2680543
Panchayat Samiti2930
Zilla Parishad141

Panchayat elections were held in the Indian state of West Bengal in July 2023. [2] It was held by the West Bengal State Election Commission. The results were announced on 11 July 2023.

Contents

Schedule

The election schedule was announced by the State Election Commission of West Bengal on 8 June 2023. [3]

Poll EventSchedule
Notification Date9 June 2023
Last Date for filing nomination15 June 2023
Last Date for Withdrawal of nomination20 June 2023
Date of Poll8 July 2023
Date of Counting of Votes11 July 2023

Parties and alliances

PartySymbolAlliance
Trinamool Congress TMC
All India Trinamool Congress symbol 2021.svg
-
Bharatiya Janata Party BJP
Lotus flower symbol.svg
Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPI(M)
CPIM election symbol.png
Sanjukta Morcha
Indian National Congress INC
Hand INC.svg
All India Forward Bloc AIFB
Indian Election Symbol Lion.svg
Revolutionary Socialist Party RSP
Indian Election Symbol Spade and Stoker.png
Communist Party of India CPI
CPI symbol.svg
Indian Secular Front ISF
Indian Election Symbol Envelope.jpg
Nationalist Congress Party NCP
Nationalist Congress Party Election Symbol.png
Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation CPI(ML)L
Flag Logo of CPIML.png
-
Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist) SUCI(C)
SUCI flag.svg
-

Turnout

80.71 percent of the total voters exercised their franchise in the three-tier panchayat elections, according to the West Bengal State Election Commission. [4] The re-poll in 600 booths where voting had to be suspended due to violence is scheduled to be held on 10 July 2023. [4]

Violence

Between 8 June and 16 July 2023 a total of 55 people have died due to panchayat poll violence in West Bengal.

On 8 July 2023, 12 persons died due to election-day violence. On 9 July 2023, six more deaths were reported, [4] increasing the death toll to 18 on the election day. The dead included 10 Trinamool Congress supporters, four from the Indian National Congress, two from the Bharatiya Janata Party and two from the Communist Party of India (Marxist). [4]

On 11 July 2023, result day late night in Bhangar, South 24 parganas there were gunshots and huge bombings killing 3.

"Murder of democracy in West Bengal under the TMC govt. Over 60 dead & 100s injured in the local body elections. Strongly condemn. Strengthen popular resistance to save democracy in Bengal & in India," said Sitaram Yechury, National Secretary, Communist Party of India (Marxist), condemning the alleged rigging in elections by the ruling party.

Results

Vote share by Party

   TMC (51%)
   BJP (23%)
   LF (14%)
   INC (7%)
   ISF (1%)
  Others (4%)

Vote share by Alliance

   TMC (51%)
   BJP (22.92%)
  Others (4%)
Political partiesPopular votes% of votesGram PanchayatPanchayat SamitiZila Parishad
Trinamool Congress 20,942,38051.14%35,6066,560877
Sanyukta Morcha 9,565,35923.02%6,82245917
Bharatiya Janata Party 9,467,54022.92%9,7561,04426
Others1,081,6732.84%2,9723011

Analysis

The Trinamool Congress won a landslide victory in the panchayat election, winning 100 per cent of Zilla Parishads, 92 per cent Panchayat Samitis and 80 per cent Gram Panchayats. [5] [6]

The Bharatiya Janata Party secured a second position in these polls and performed well in North Bengal. [7]

The Sanjukta Morcha alliance came third in these local bodies elections. [8] The ISF especially performed well in the areas where it contested, winning almost 50% of the seats contested. [9] The Left Front and INC also performed well in the Muslim-dominated Malda division. [8] Most notably Left Front pushed Bharatiya Janata Party to third spot in the Burdwan division after a long time since 2016.

Notes

Related Research Articles

Politics in West Bengal is dominated by the following major political parties: the All India Trinamool Congress, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Bharatiya Janata Party, and the Indian National Congress. For many decades, the state underwent gruesome and terrible political violence. Since the 2011 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, it has been governed by the Trinamool Congress party. Previously, it was ruled by Left Front led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) for over three decades.

Secular Democratic Alliance, is a political alliance formed ahead of the 2024 Indian general election in West Bengal as a rivalry to the Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party led by Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Indian National Congress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suvendu Adhikari</span> Indian politician (born 1970)

Suvendu Adhikari is an Indian politician from Bharatiya Janata Party who is the current Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly since 2021 and a member of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly from Nandigram Assembly constituency since 2021 and from Contai South from 2006 to 2009.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mausam Noor</span> Indian politician

Mausam Benazir Noor is an Indian politician serving as Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha from West Bengal and Vice Chairperson of West Bengal Commission for Women. She has served as President of Malda district TMC. She has also served as a Member of Lok Sabha for Maldaha Uttar from 2009 until 2019.

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Sreerupa Mitra Chaudhury, popularly known as Nirbhaya Didi, is an Indian politician and a member of Bharatiya Janata Party from West Bengal, India. She is also a social worker, women's rights activist and former journalist.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dilip Ghosh (politician)</span> Indian Member of Parliament

Dilip Ghosh is an Indian politician from West Bengal. He is the incumbent Member of Parliament representing the Medinipur constituency in Lok Sabha. He also served as one of the national vice presidents of Bharatiya Janata Party from 2021 to 2023. He served as the 9th president of the West Bengal unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arjun Singh (West Bengal politician)</span> Indian politician

Arjun Singh is an Indian politician and a Member of Parliament in the 17th Lok Sabha from Barrackpore Lok Sabha constituency in West Bengal. He contested the 2019 Indian general election as a BJP candidate and won against TMC candidate Dinesh Trivedi.

Sabyasachi Dutta is an Indian politician from West Bengal. He belongs to the All India Trinamool Congress and was MLA from Rajarhat New Town Vidhan Sabha Constituency. He has also served as the first Mayor of Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation from 2015 to 2019. In 2019, he joined BJP.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bharatiya Janata Party, West Bengal</span> Indian political party

Bharatiya Janata Party, West Bengal or simply BJP West Bengal is the state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Indian state of West Bengal. The party's headquarters is located in Kolkata, the capital of the state. Sukanta Majumdar is currently appointed as the president of BJP West Bengal.

Tapasi Mondal is an Indian politician and member of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly representing Haldia constituency from 2016. She was elected as a Communist Party of India (Marxist) member, but later in 2020 joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Dipali Biswas is an Indian politician and member of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly. She was elected as the representative of the Gazole constituency in the 2016 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election as a candidate of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). In 2016, she switched her party to Trinamool Congress and in 2020, she switched to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian Secular Front</span> Indian Political party

The Indian Secular Front is an Indian political party formed in West Bengal by Abbas Siddiqui, an influential cleric of the shrine of Furfura Sharif in Hooghly district.

The 2021 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election for 292 constituencies of the 294 constituencies in West Bengal was held between 27 March to 29 April 2021 in eight phases.

A violent clash erupted between various workers of political parties including TMC, BJP, Congress and CPI (M) during the poll day of panchayat elections on 8 July 2023 in West Bengal. Partial violence across the state had started from the announcement of the dates of polling from 8 June resulting in few casualties too. With polling and elections going on, violence against many workers continued over the streets of the state. The state witnessed gun shots, assaults, rioting and arsons wide across many parts of the state. Moreover, ballot boxes had been destroyed in various parts of the state. The polling process began at 7 am in 73,887 seats in rural areas of the state, where approximately 56,700,000 people were expected to cast their votes.

References

  1. https://www.telegraphindia.com/west-bengal/2023-panchayat-elections-record-80-71-per-cent-turnout-with-14-per-cent-votes-cast-before-5pm/cid/1950932#:~:text=West%20Bengal%20Panchayat%20Elections,cast%20before%205pm%20%2D%20Telegraph%20India
  2. "Bengal panchayat polls to be held on July 8: SEC Rajiva Sinha" . Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  3. "Bengal Panchayat Election 2023: Voting On July 8, Nomination Begins From June 9 | Check Full Schedule". India.com. 8 June 2023. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "West Bengal panchayat polls | Repolling in 696 booths on July 10; death toll rises to 18". The Hindu. 9 July 2023.
  5. "West Bengal panchayat election results: TMC sweeps, BJP second. 10 updates". Hindustan Times. 11 July 2023. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  6. "Bengal panchayat polls: TMC sweeps all but 2 hill dists; ISF impresses in stronghold". The Indian Express. 11 July 2023. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  7. "BJP loses Jangalmahal, north Bengal grounds in TMC wave, but Suvendu gets rural poll booster". The Indian Express. 13 July 2023. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  8. 1 2 Ghosh, Sayantan (12 July 2023). "Bengal Panchayat Polls: TMC Wins, But At What Cost? Many Cautionary Signs For Mamata Banerjee". news.abplive.com. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  9. "TMC's worry: Not just Bhangar, Indian Secular Front picked up seats across Bengal districts". The Indian Express. 14 July 2023. Retrieved 14 July 2023.