Patna, Jan. 16 :    Patna, Jan. 16:  The Samastipur killings yesterday could be a forewarning to violent panchayat polls two months later. Seven persons were gunned down at a campaign-related meeting at Rosera in Samastipur last evening. The last time panchayat elections were held in the state in 1978, about 400 people had died. Contractors controlling the levers of power in the villages in the absence of local polls for 22 years were threatened by the change in political equations, sources said. National Democratic Alliance constituents, led by the newly-formed Lok Janashakti of Ram Vilas Paswan, have been working overtime to wean away a chunk of backward votes. Regular meetings were being held in the districts to start an early campaign. The Rosera Kshetriya Vikas Samity _ led by Murari Prasad Singh, district president of Lok Shakti's youth wing - was emerging as a force to reckon with and its members had planned to contest the panchayat polls. The effort was spearheaded by local MP Ram Chandra Paswan, brother of Ram Vilas. But a group headed by Kundan Singh, known to be close to the local RJD, was resisting the move, police sources said. Unidentified gunmen, who came on two-wheelers, stormed the house-cum-office of Murari Prasad around 8 pm yesterday when a meeting was on. They whipped out AK-47 rifles and sprayed bullets on the group, killing seven and injuring 15. SP, Samastipur, Paresh Saxena said the killers could not be identified but they appeared to be professionals. Paramilitary forces patrolled Samstipur today and Opposition leaders Sushil Modi and Nitish Kumar visited the site. Preliminary inquiries by police revealed that a dispute over the control of a bus stand has been raging in the area. Kundan Singh, a local strongman, was one of the claimants to the contract for the bus stand for which a bidding was to be held. The Rokera Samity was also eyeing the bus stand. 'But this will be one of the disputes which have been creating bad blood between the two groups and there was fear that Murari Prasad's group would take possession of the major avenues of business,' said one of the investigating officers.