Bengal panchayat polls on May 14

The panchayat polls in West Bengal will be held on a single day on May 14, the State Election Commission said on Thursday.

SEC Secretary Nilanjan Shandilya said the decision was taken following consultation with the State government. The commission has decided to hold any repoll, if necessary, on May 16 and the votes will be counted on May 17, he added.

The decision to hold elections on a single day immediately came under severe criticism from the Opposition, which raised questions about the security arrangements for nearly 58,000 polling booths in the State.

Three-tier elections

About 5.08 crore people — nearly 74% of the State’s voters — are eligible to exercise their franchise for the three-tier panchayat elections across 20 districts of the State. There are 48,650 gram panchayat seats, 9,217 panchayat samiti and 825 zilla parishad seats at stake. The term of the existing elected bodies ends in August; the State government was keen to hold the polls before the onset of the holy Islamic month of Ramzan.

“Maintain courtesy”

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee urged all political parties to “maintain courtesy” during the polls so that they are held in a peaceful manner. However, the State’s former Chief Minister and veteran leader of the CPI(M), Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, issued a statement saying that the ruling party (Trinamool Congress) has “sullied the image” of the panchayat system in the State by attacking supporters of other parties.

However, the Opposition parties approached the Calcutta High Court alleging attack on their supporters and the process was deferred.