West Bengal panchayat elections LIVE UPDATES: The TMC, which controls 90 per cent of the Panchayat seats, apart from all the Zilla Parishads of the state, will look to establish its dominant position ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. (Express photo by Shubham Dutta)
The West Bengal panchayat election results will be declared on Thursday and counting of votes will start at 7 am. While there is no doubt that the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress is bound to maintain its grip over the rural bodies, it remains to be seen if BJP is able to up its vote share from the three per cent it got in 2013 elections and whether the CPI(M) can turn a corner in a state it ruled for 34 years.
Meanwhile, re-polling at 572 booths across 19 districts in the state took place on Wednesday after opposition parties approached the State Election Commission citing the violence and booth rigging that marred the gram panchayat elections on Monday, which saw a voter turnout of 73 per cent and 14 people being killed across several districts. The re-polling on Wednesday saw a 68 per cent turnout.
Elections were held in 622 zila parishads and 6,158 panchayat samitis, besides 31,836 gram panchayats of the state. This is because 16,814 gram panchayat seats, 3,059 panchayat samiti seats and 203 zila parishad were uncontested. Trinamool candidates were elected unopposed in 34 per cent of seats. In the 2013 Assembly elections, TMC won 90 per cent of the Panchayat seats, apart from all the Zilla Parishads of the state.