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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal align=right style='text-align:right'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>July 11, 2023<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Press Statement<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement: <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Greeting the People of West Bengal<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) congratulates the people of West Bengal, the Left Front and other democratic forces who have shown extreme courage and resilience in fighting back the unprecedented violence unleashed by the TMC and the obnoxious partisan role played by the state administration and the state Election Commission during the panchayat elections held on July 8 across the state. Sixty people have been killed and hundreds injured in course of the electoral battle.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>The violence was specifically aimed at denying the people the democratic right of exercising their choice in a free and fair poll. The horrific terror span across all stages of the election starting with preventing filing of nominations, forcing withdrawals, manipulating the process of scrutiny and on the day of voting itself. The ordeal has continued even today on the date of counting where the counting centres were left inadequately manned with security personnel, not to speak of deployment of Central security forces as ordered by the Kolkata High Court. There are widespread instances of driving out opposition counting agents from the counting centre, breaking the ballot boxes and throwing out ballot papers stamped in favour of the opposition particularly the Left and its allies, forcibly taking away certificates issued to winning candidates with MLAs and other unauthorized people leading large number of TMC goons in the counting centre. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>The targeting of the opposition by the ruling party and the administration was concentrated against the Left, the Congress and other electoral allies, while showing a kid glove treatment for the BJP. It has become obvious that it is the Left, Congress and other anti-BJP, anti-TMC forces who have frontally confronted this hooliganism of the ruling dispensation. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>The Polit Bureau particularly congratulates the people for ensuring the victory of large number of candidates belonging to Left and other secular allies. The resistance of the people is the new feature of the struggle for democracy, unity and peace in West Bengal. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=right style='text-align:right'><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>(Muralidharan)<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal align=right style='text-align:right'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>For CPI(M) Central Committee office<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>