West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said she is saddened at the loss of lives in "sporadic" incidents of violence during rural polls.
Mamata Banerjee also asserted that her government has given a free hand to the police to take action against those behind the violence.
"I am saddened at the loss of lives in sporadic incidents of violence during panchayat elections... The polls were held in 71,000 booths, but incidents of violence took place in not more than 60 booths," she said.
The chief minister claimed that 19 people, mostly from her TMC, died in poll-related violence since the election date was announced on June 8.
Police sources, however, have put the number of fatalities at 37.
"I am giving police free hand to the police to act against those behind the violence," she told reporters at the state secretariat 'Nabanna'.
Ms Banerjee also appealed for peace and harmony in the aftermath of the polls.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Featured Video Of The Day
"God-Sent For Me": Bengal Governor On Court's Order On Mamata Banerjee "No Defamatory Remarks Against Governor": High Court To Mamata Banerjee Mamata Banerjee Meets Uddhav Thackeray In Mumbai, Says "NDA May Not Last Long" Massive Worldwide Microsoft Outage: Flights, Markets, Stock Exchange Down CrowdStrike Falcon Sensor: The Culprit Behind World's Biggest IT Outage "Fix Deployed": CEO Of Firm Behind Global Microsoft Outage Microsoft Outage "Affecting IT Operations" Paris Olympics Organisers In Jaw-Dropping Video, 12-Foot King Cobra Rescued And Released In Karnataka Biden Or Trump, It's Still A Long Wait For Indian 'Dreamers' In US Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.