Kolkata, Jul 7 (IANS): With West Bengal all set for panchayat polls on Saturday, the main question that is doing the rounds in the social and political circles of the state is what will be the final death toll of the poll-related violence that has rocked the state ever since the announcement of election date on June 8,

The apprehensions are not inconsequential considering the number of casualties already recorded during the last few weeks.

Till Friday evening, as many as 19 people have died in the pre-poll violence since the announcement of polling date on June 8. People are worried that if so many people have lost their lives even before the election day, what will be the toll on the election day and in the aftermath of result declaration.

Another point that is fuelling the apprehension of bloodbath is the blatant attempt by the police administration to underplay the incidents of violence and clashes witnessed in the pre-poll phase.

Just a couple of days back, instead of admitting the lapses, DGP Manoj Malviya chose to blame the media for blowing the reports of violence out of proportion.

““There had been a couple of incidents, where the police had taken prompt action. We are working as per the guidelines. The situation is well under control and incidents of violence have come down. The media is projecting minor incidents as major ones, which is not done,” Malviya had said on July 4.

Yet, five more people have died in pre-poll violence since then.

There is also apprehension over proper deployment and effective utilisation of central armed forces on the polling day. With hours to go before polling begins, the arrival of the central forces is still on and is expected to be completed by late Friday night. It remains to be seen how effective the deployment of forces will be given that their arrival will be complete at the 11th hour.