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NewsTranscript
00:00Well, the West Bengal panchayat results are out, and it has been a resounding victory
00:08for the Trinamool Congress that's won by a landslide, with the BJP coming a distant second
00:13and the left and the Congress coming third.
00:16It clearly establishes that the Trinamool is still in the pole position as far as Bengal
00:22is concerned, and that the BJP, interestingly, is now the principal opposition to it.
00:27But this entire election process, and even its results, have been overshadowed by unprecedented
00:33levels of violence that is unusual even for West Bengal, a state which has a history of
00:40political violence.
00:41As of last count, more than 45 people have been killed ever since the polls were announced
00:47in June.
00:48And even on polling day, there were a number of people and workers who were killed as people
00:53were going out to cast their vote in the panchayat polls.
00:57Many of those killed, ironically, have been Trinamool Congress workers themselves.
01:02Now all of this is something that is steeped in Bengal's political culture, because we've
01:06seen for decades, political violence, booth capturing, intimidation, is very much a part
01:12of what Bengal used to be, certainly in the 60s, 70s, and under the rule of the left front.
01:17What it proves is that nothing's really changed under Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamool.
01:22And this is not good for Bengal, and certainly not good for democracy.