The queue outside a booth in Dinhata, Cooch Behar, where polling took place peacefully. Picture by Avijit Sinha

Calcutta, May 18: Relieved that comrades didn’t kill comrades as in the second phase of the panchayat elections, CPM state secretary Biman Bose made light of today’s violence, comparing the toll with that in earlier rural polls.

“I’m not justifying today’s violence and deaths. But it was only confined to five blocks of three districts out of the seven districts that went to polls today. Barring a few incidents, the polls were peaceful in comparison with 2003,’’ Bose said.

Although he didn’t offer any figure, CPM leaders at the party headquarters said over 60 people were killed in three days in 2003 — on the eve of the polls, on polling day and the day after.

This year, 19 people were killed in three days of polling.

Bose, who had earlier said the polls would be “bloody”, today harped on “limited violence” while parrying questions on complaints by the Opposition and some Left Front partners that the administration had connived at the ruling party’s strong-arm tactics.

Resorting to a blame game, he held the Congress responsible for the violence, particularly in Murshidabad’s Domkol, where six persons were killed.

Bose sounded hopeful of wresting the Congress-led Murshidabad and Malda zilla parishads. The hope stems from factionalism in the Congress and an expected anti-incumbency factor.

“Knowing that it will lose this time, the Congress had a plan to trigger widespread violence. But it was confined to Domkol because of the people’s resistance,” Bose said.

He was visibly happy that Cooch Behar, where the CPM and front partner Forward Bloc have been at loggerheads, did not witness a fresh flare-up. Five Bloc supporters were killed in police firing in Cooch Behar’s Dinhata in February.

With the wounds of Basanti, South 24-Parganas — where alleged CPM goons killed five RSP supporters including a minister’s relative three days ago — still raw, Bose and chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee were keen to avoid further clashes with the ally in Jalpaiguri and South Dinajpur.

“Whatever may be the mutual bitterness among the allies during seat-sharing talks and the campaign, the relations were generally good on polling day,’’ Bose said while thanking the media for highlighting his post-Basanti peace message to the allies as well as his own party.

Interestingly, Bose pinned his hopes of defeating the Congress in Murshidabad and Malda on an electoral adjustment with the RSP in these two districts.

“Our review of the last rural polls had made it clear that disunity among partners was the main reason for our defeats in the two districts. We lost nine seats in the Murshidabad zilla parishad because of infighting. This time, our understanding was good and the possibility of losing these nine seats is minimal,’’ he said.

In Malda, he added, the front had lost five seats because of rancour among the allies in 2003. “We are expecting a better result this time.”

Insiders said the CPM, keen to reap the benefit of infighting in the Congress, particularly in Murshidabad, had reached a tacit understanding with Congress strongman Adhir Chowdhury.

Indicating that the CPM will not gun for the MP, once its enemy No. 1 there, Bose declined comment on his role in the violence. “The Congress has to take the blame,’’ he said.

State Congress leader Subrata Mukherjee demanded the chief minister’s resignation for the violence in Murshidabad. “He should step down for trampling on the democratic rights of the people.”

Mamata Banerjee said the elections had become a “farce” because of “state-sponsored terrorism”.

She also accused the state election commission of being partisan. “Those at the helm of the poll panel are retired people who got plum posts because of the CPM,” Mamata said.