Left Front calls for 6-hour general shut down in Bengal on Apr 13 over statewide violence over Panchayat nomination

During a press conference in Kolkata on Wednesday, Left Front chairman Biman Basu said, "To protest against ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC)'s cruel plan to demolish democracy and to form an 'opposition-free' panchayat in the state, we will observe a 6-hour general shut down in West Bengal on next Friday, April 13, from 6 am. to 12 pm."

Meanwhile, condemning of Lefts' decision to go on strike, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that her government won't allow any shut down in the state.

"No strike will take place in Bengal on April 13 and everything will be normal on that day," Mamata Banerjee told media at state secretariat Nabanna on Wednesday late evening.

"Some scattered violence were reported from 6-7 places out of 58,000 booths. Otherwise, nomination filing process was completed peacefully," Banerjee added.

Since the process of nomination filing was commenced, supporters of all three leading opposition parties have been alleging that the leader-activists of ruling TMC are assaulting them and prevented their candidates from filing nominations.

It was also caught on camera that women candidates and female members of candidates from the opposition parties, who were on their way to submit nominations for Panchayat elections, were assaulted by TMC members on road in broad daylight in presence of police.

When journalists and photojournalists of several media outlets tried to cover those attacks in several districts of West Bengal, they were allegedly assaulted and threatened to be killed by TMC men.

Latest on last day of filing nomination, Monday (Apr 9), a group of Kolkata-based journalists and photojournalists, who were covering the filing of nomination papers for South 24 Parganas district at Alipore which is under Kolkata Police's jurisdictions, were allegedly attacked by TMC activists.

Reporters and photographers from The Indian Express and ETV Group were thrashed while a senior photojournalist from Times of India, Biplab Mondal, alleged that he was forcibly undressed by the TMC goons.

The photographer also claimed that after being undressed, he was locked in a room near DM office at Alipore and the attackers threatened him to publish his 'half-nude' photos on social sites if he forcibly tried to cover the assignment.

Attacked media personnel alleged that police acted like spectators during the incident and refused to help them.

Protesting the incidents of assaults on journalists, Kolkata-based scribes held a protest march at city's downtown Esplanade area on Wednesday evening.

(Reporting by Deepayan Sinha)