Panchayat Elections in West Bengal had been scheduled for May 1, 3 and 5. The State Election Commission had fixed April 9 as the last date for filing nominations. But, as complaints started flowing from the opposition parties regarding “terror and intimidation by ruling party supporters”, the SEC had extended the last date for filing nominations to April 10. Surprisingly, within 12 hours of this announcement, on the morning of April 10, the SEC withdrew its decision of extending the nomination deadline.
With hopes of getting their grievances redressed, opposition parties moved the Calcutta High Court with petitions regarding the same. The case was taken up with the ruling Trinamool Congress and the SEC on one side and the aggrieved opposition on the other side. Trinamool MP and lawyer Kalyan Banerjee defended his party against the allegations of misconduct made by the opposition. He went on to cite Supreme Court orders, the Constitution of India as well as the West Bengal Panchayat Act, 2003 to strengthen his argument that the HC had no jurisdiction to interfere in election matters especially when the poll process has already been initiated by the SEC. He also argued that according to the West Bengal Panchayat Act, 2003, any matter regarding panchayat elections can be taken up in a civil court only after 30 days of the completion of the poll process. The HC, however, set aside his arguments and ordered the SEC to re-schedule the polls.
Meanwhile, at the grassroots level, Trinamool had kept its game steady, especially in the Birbhum district, its stronghold. District President Anubrata Mondal nonchalantly rubbished the ‘baseless’ allegations made by the opposition and went on to express his scepticism regarding why the BJP, despite its clout and strength, could not file nominations to the Zilla Parishad.
Panchayat Elections are comprised of elections to three bodies, the Gram Panchayat, the Panchayat Samiti and the Zilla Parishad. BJP candidate to the Birbhum Zilla Parishad, Chitralekha Roy, was seen beside Mondal barely 24 hours after she withdrew her nomination as the BJP candidate. She cited ‘family pressures’ as the reason for her filing the nomination, while Mondal rejected speculations that it was the result of coercion. Roy went on to say that she supported the Trinamool, despite having filed nominations from the BJP. Her husband is also a Trinamool worker. The withdrawal of Roy’s nomination, the sole opposition candidate, practically made Trinamool the winner of the Birbhum Zilla Parishad.
Now, the Calcutta High Court has ordered the SEC to chalk out the poll schedule afresh, saying that the initial schedule of May 1,3 and 5 is not maintainable since there needs to be a gap of at least 21 days between the last date of filing nominations and the first day of polling. The HC has also opened a window for all those who had failed to file their nominations by April 9, due to alleged ruling party intimidation. Pradesh Congress Committee President Adhir Chowdhury has said that the HC verdict is ‘a moral defeat’ for the Trinamool. He also spoke of petitioning the HC regarding deployment of central forces in the state for poll purposes. CPI(M) leader and lawyer Bikash Bhattacharya said that his party will not hesitate to move the HC again if required. BJP petitioner Pratap Bandyopadhyay said, “This is not a win for BJP, but for all the people of Bengal.”