Senior BJP leader Mukul Roy said the order is the “victory for the masses of Bengal”. (Express Photo by Tashi Tobgyal)
The Opposition in West Bengal on Thursday welcomed the Calcutta High Court order that stayed all panchayat election process, including withdrawal of nominations in the state, till April 16 and described it as a historic order in favour of the people of the state. The Trinamool Congress (TMC), meanwhile, have decided to move the division bench of the Calcutta High Court to challenge the single bench order.
While hearing a petition filed by the BJP which accused the TMC of unleashing violence to prevent the Opposition candidates from filing their panchayat poll nominations, the single bench of Justice Subrata Talukdar, in an unprecedented move, put a stay on all election process in the state till April 16 and sought a detailed report from the West Bengal State Election Commission on measures taken by it to address the Opposition’s complaints. On April 16, Justice Talukdar will take a decision on whether to resume the poll process after receiving the detailed report from the poll panel.
Welcoming the order, BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha said, “It is a historic order in favour of the people of the state. It is a victory for the people of West Bengal. We welcome this order.”
Echoing the same, state Congress president Adhir Chowdhury said, “I salute the court. At least, the court is listening to our agony at a time when the government, police and even the state election commission are refusing to pay heed to our grievances. It is a victory for the democracy.”
“We welcome this order. There is no scope for lacuna as we have to continue to unite the people in our fight to restore the democracy in West Bengal,” CPM state secretary Surjyakanta Mishra said.
Reacting to the order, lawyer and TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee said, “The election process is kept on hold till April 16. There are a lot of earlier orders which say that once an election process starts, it cannot be put on hold. We are approaching a division bench against this order.”
TMC secretary general Partha Chatterjee blamed the Opposition for stalling the election process in the state. “BJP, CPM and Congress have united against the state government and the ruling party and want to stall the panchayat election process. The people of the state will give them a befitting reply,” he said.