West Bengal panchayat polls: 1.75 crore will not be able to vote

The West Bengal State Election Commission refused to comment on the fact that one in every three seats in the panchayat polls has gone to the Trinamool Congress without a contest. Secretary of State Election Commission [SEC] Nilanjan Shandilya said that it is only “a matter of record” that the number of uncontested seats is as high as 34%.

But psephologist and political analyst Biswanath Chakraborty said such a high number of uncontested victories posed a “threat to democracy”.

“There are about 5.08 crore voters... With no contest in 34% seats about 1.75 crore electorate will not be able to vote,” he said.

He explained that the uncontested seats grew with every phase.

“The number of uncontested seats after the end of nomination stage was about 25 % to 27 % but after withdrawal the number has increased to 34 %,” Mr Chakraborty, who has written books on the State elections. According to the psephologist, the contest will be confined to about 60 % seats as there are many dummy candidates of the ruling party in the fray.

Retired Supreme Court Justice Asoke Kumar Ganguly said that totalitarian tendencies leading to autocratic functioning will ultimately disenchant the people from electoral politics.“These are ominous signs for democracy and lack of Opposition will breed corruption at the panchayat level,” Justice Ganguly said.