Paharpur gram panchayat pradhan Anita Raut and up-pradhan Benuranjan Sarkar resigned from their posts on Thursday. Raising slogans of Joy Bangla and Mamata Banerjee Zindabad, both leaders reached the Jalpaiugri Sadar BDO office and submitted their resignation letters to BDO Biplav Kumar Biswas. Other Trinamool panchayat members were also present during this time. Both leaders blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party for creating political pressure.
Pradhan Anita Raut stated that protests were held outside her home with allegations of corruption and forced extortion. A police complaint was also registered regarding this matter. After discussing the situation with party members of the panchayat, both leaders decided to leave their posts. However, they clarified that they will continue to work as panchayat members. In the 2023 panchayat elections, the Trinamool won 27 seats in the Paharpur gram panchayat to form the board, while the BJP got two seats and the CPI(M) got one seat.
BJP Jalpaiguri district vice-president Bubai Kar rejected all allegations made by the Trinamool leaders. He claimed that the BJP does not do politics of capture. He further stated that the pradhan and up-pradhan are blaming the BJP to escape from corruption charges and public anger after failing to perform their duties properly.
