Kolkata, April 10: Birbhum woke up to unruly scenes as men with swords, daggers and knives wandered outside the Returning Officer's office in a bid to prevent nominations filing for the upcoming panchayat elections. The miscreants withered away as soon as the State Election Commission rescinded its last night order which had extended the deadline to file nominations till 3 pm today.

Reports could not confirm the political affiliations of the armed men spotted in Birbhum earlier in the day. The Opposition, however, was firm that the miscreants are workers of the ruling Trinamool Congress.

The BJP, Congress and CPI(M) approached the SEC headquarters in Kolkata to complaint against the strong-arm tactics being allegedly used by the TMC to intimidate the candidates in the fray.

The TMC on Monday was declared winner unopposed from 41 of the 42 seats in Birbhum zilliding Into DMs" /> There Is National Send Nudes Day in April! But Don't Let This NSFW Day Fool You Into Sharing Nude Pics Both Online or Sliding Into DMs

Kolkata, April 10: Birbhum woke up to unruly scenes as men with swords, daggers and knives wandered outside the Returning Officer's office in a bid to prevent nominations filing for the upcoming panchayat elections. The miscreants withered away as soon as the State Election Commission rescinded its last night order which had extended the deadline to file nominations till 3 pm today.

Reports could not confirm the political affiliations of the armed men spotted in Birbhum earlier in the day. The Opposition, however, was firm that the miscreants are workers of the ruling Trinamool Congress.

The BJP, Congress and CPI(M) approached the SEC headquarters in Kolkata to complaint against the strong-arm tactics being allegedly used by the TMC to intimidate the candidates in the fray.

The TMC on Monday was declared winner unopposed from 41 of the 42 seats in Birbhum zilla parishad. The lone seat where the party faces a challenge is from Rajnagar, where the BJP candidate succeeded in filing his nomination.

Senior communist leader Ranil Deb said the TMC is bound to emerge as winner unopposed in several more panchayat samitis as its cadres are brazenly threatening the Opposition candidates to withdraw from the poll race.

Senior Bengal BJP leader Rahul Sinha reiterated the charge, claiming the goondaism of TMC will ensure it wins the rural polls. "But this is not democracy. This is the murder of democracy," he said.

The  Mamata Banerjee-led party, however, refuted the charges levelled by the Opposition. TMC's Birbhum district president Abhijit Mondal said the Congress, CPI(M) and BJP should not blame the ruling party if "they are struggling to find candidates".

Meanwhile, two seperate clashes were also reported later in the day outside the SEC office in Kolkata. An altercation was first reported between the TMC and BJP workers, followed by clash between the latter and the Congress cadres.

The panchayat elections in the state are scheduled to be held in three phases on May 1, 3 and 5. The counting of votes will be held on May 12.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 10, 2018 04:24 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).