The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday constituted a fact-finding committee to investigate cases of violence during last week’s panchayat polls in West Bengal. On the same day, the Trinamool Congress also formed a five-member fact-finding team that will visit violence-hit Manipur.

Former Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad is the BJP fact-finding committee’s convenor and the other members are former Mumbai police commissioner and Baghpat MP Satyapal Singh, Silchar MP Rajdeep Roy and Dhaurahara MP and party vice-president Rekha Verma.

The panchayat elections, which took place on July 8, were marred by widespread violence. At least 20 persons died in poll-related violence. Repolling was held on Monday in 696 booths where voting had to be suspended due to the violence.

Commenting on the violence, Prasad remarked, “You [Trinamool Congress] speak about democracy. How is democracy functioning in this state?”

Also read: Why are rural elections in West Bengal so violent?

The BJP delegation will visit the violence-hit areas on Tuesday and has been asked to submit its report to party president JP Nadda at the earliest.

Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari told reporters he was collecting evidence of electoral malpractices in thousands of booths during the polling on July 8 and will move the Calcutta High Court.

“We had submitted a list of 6,000 booths to the SEC [State Election Commission] recommending repoll,” the BJP leader said. “Actually, false voting had taken place in 18,000 booths at the behest of the Trinamool Congress. We are collecting more proof...video footage and everything.”

The Trinamool Congress, on its part, said a five-member party delegation will on July 14 visit Manipur, where the conflict between the Meitei and the Kuki communities has escalated since May 3. Over 140 people have been killed while more than 60,000 have been displaced and hundreds of relief camps have been established amid clashes that have spiralled into a civil war.

“It [the delegation] will reach out to those affected and provide some healing comfort for a DOUBLE ENGINE’ state that the BJP government has ignored over the last 3 months,” the Trinamool Congress said on Twitter.

While the Manipur and central government – both run by the Bharatiya Janata Party – have insisted that the situation is “improving slowly”, widespread incidents of violence and arson continue to deepen the crisis.