India election bloodshed starts

Several thousand activists paraded through a West Bengal town on Sunday with the body of a politician whose killing opened a campaign of violence ahead of India’s election.

Satyajit Biswas, a legislator from the eastern state’s ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), was shot dead at point-blank range by gunmen as he attended a ceremony for a Hindu goddess late on Saturday.

His party blamed the archrival Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but its leaders denied any involvement.

“We suspect a political link to the killing,” West Bengal deputy police chief Anuj Sharma said.

Two people had been arrested, he said, but would not say if they were from a party.

Followers marched with the 38-year-old legislator’s body from a hospital in Nadia district, about 120km from Kolkata, to his home village.

Nadia, which borders Bangladesh, was a battleground between the TMC and BJP during civic polls last year.

There were dozens of deaths during the campaign.

Modi must soon announce a general election expected to start in April.

West Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh blamed the murder on splits in the TMC. “Let there be a Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry, everything will become clear,” he said.