East Medinipur, 10 August (H.S.): Tension erupted at Shantipur-I Gram Panchayat in Shahid Matangini block of West Bengal’s East Midnapore district on Monday during a trust vote on a no-confidence motion brought by the BJP against the Trinamool Congress-backed panchayat chief.

The trust vote was scheduled for 11 am. According to the BJP, it had managed to bring 10 members to the meeting by persuading members from other political groups to support the motion. However, 11 votes were required to remove the panchayat chief.

Amid the situation, the BJP was accused of bringing a woman Trinamool Congress member to the meeting at around 1 pm. Trinamool members objected to her presence, as she arrived nearly two hours after the scheduled time of the meeting.

A heated argument broke out inside the meeting hall, which escalated into a scuffle between members of the two sides. The resolution book was also allegedly torn during the commotion.

Shahid Matangini Block Panchayat Development Officer Krishna Saha was present at the meeting. She reportedly fell ill inside the meeting hall amid the chaos. A doctor was subsequently called to the gram panchayat office for her treatment. She was later taken out of the office and shifted to a nursing home.

Earlier, on July 31, the BJP had also failed to remove the CPI(M) chief of Baishnabchak Gram Panchayat in Kolaghat through a no-confidence motion. The chief had managed to survive the trust vote there as well.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Priyanka Pandey