Bengal panchayat polls: AISF MLA writes to Amit Shah over life threat

Amid the large scale violence over the nomination process for the July 8 West Bengal panchayat polls, the lone All India Secular Front (AISF) MLA Naushad Siddique has written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah claiming threat to his life.

Bengal panchayat polls: AISF MLA writes to Amit Shah over life threat

Kolkata, June 16 (IANS) Amid the large scale violence over the nomination process for the July 8 West Bengal panchayat polls, the lone All India Secular Front (AISF) MLA Naushad Siddique has written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah claiming threat to his life.

In the letter, Siddique also sought central assistance for his necessary security.

Siddique is the elected MLA from Bhangar Assembly constituency in South 24 Parganas district, which has been the epicentre of the recent clashes and violence.

On Wednesday, Siddique was at the state secretariat of Nabanna to discuss ways for a solution to resolve the ongoing violence with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

However, he did not get a chance to meet her.

"I had earlier sent an email to the Chief Minister's Office seeking her appointment on this count. However, since I did not get any reply to my email I decided to directly go to the state secretariat to meet her. However, the Chief Minister because of her preoccupations could not meet me," Siddique told the media.

Meanwhile, the state BJP president Sukanta Majumdar had also called up Shah to update him on the situation in West Bengal.

On the other hand, the National Commission of Scheduled Castes (NCSC) has given a notice to the office of the West Bengal State Election Commission seeking a report on the ongoing violence.

The NCSC vice-chairman Arun Halder said that if the report is not available, he will summon the State Election Commissioner Rajiva Sinha to New Delhi.

On Thursday, a division bench of the Calcutta High Court's Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya had directed the poll body to deploy central forces throughout the state for the rural civic body polls.

The division bench has also set a time-frame for the Commission to seek the central forces from the Union Home Ministry.