'Hope Mamata ji allows us to visit violence-hit region': BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad

Moments after a BJP fact-finding mission announced that it will visit the violence-hit regions of West Bengal following a tumultuous Panchayat poll, Ravi Shankar Prasad said that he hoped chief minister Mamata Banerjee will allow members of Parliament to enter the areas.The four-member team led by former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said it plans to visit north and south Bengal districts."I hope that Mamata ji will allow all 4 MPs to visit the violence-affected areas in West Bengal," Prasad said.He added, "Mamata ji, your democratic credentials are further on test. We are senior members of the Parliament and we have the right o visit to these areas and see for ourselves."After reaching the state, Prasad said, "Violence and killings during rural polls are unacceptable. So many people have been killed; why have so many people had to die in this election? We will visit the violence-hit areas of north and south Bengal. Later, we will submit our report to our national president JP Nadda."Apart from Prasad, the fact-finding team includes Satyapal Singh, Rajdeep Roy, and Rekha Verma.The BJP MP said that over 48 people have been killed in the state of West Bengal during the Panchayat elections."48 people killed during elections is a sickening sign of a democracy," Prasad said.Mocking BJP's fact-finding mission, the Trinamool Congress said that this was the party's way to distract attention from its "humiliating defeat" in Panchayat polls."They should first send a fact-finding team to Manipur, which is burning for the last two months. The BJP's fact-finding team in West Bengal is an attempt to divert attention from its own organisational failure, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said.With inputs from agencies