TMC complicit in panchayat poll violence in West Bengal: Sitaram Yechury

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Monday alleged that the Trinamool Congress was complicit in violence in West Bengal and practising double standards by speaking for democracy to oust the BJP and denying the same in the state.

The statement comes days after the CPI(M) and Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) took part in a meeting of opposition parties which resolved to fight together against the BJP.

Referring to the panchayat polls in West Bengal, Yechury alleged that it has become a norm that elections under the TMC will be marked by large-scale violence and terror. He said 10 people have already lost their lives including a young CPI(M) activist Mansoor Alam.

"They can't say they want democracy in India and therefore, oust the BJP, and then in Bengal ... you throttle democracy. That is not acceptable," he said at a press conference at the end of a two-day Polit Bureau meeting in Delhi.

"Despite such politics of violence and terror, the people of West Bengal a