All parties happy after High Court ruling on panchayat polls

KOLKATA: A division bench of the Calcutta High Court ruled on Tuesday that a three-phase panchayat poll process be completed by July 15 and that the state police provide the security. Trinamool, Congress and CPM said they were happy with the verdict.


In effect, the division bench comprising chief justice Arun Kumar Mishra and justice Joymalyo Bagchi agreed to some parts of the State Election Commission’s demands while accepting some parts of the state government’s demands.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said before leaving for Darjeeling, “I am very happy now. All’s well that ends well. I welcome the division bench order. Now we will hold the elections in a free and fair way.”

State Congress president Pradip Bhattacharjee and CPM polit bureau member Surjya Kanta Mishra appeared to be equally pleased. Bengal panchayat minister Subrata Mukherjee said, “I feel a deep rooted conspiracy was hatched by CPM, Congress and BJP to disrupt the panchayat elections and today’s order has exposed such a plot. We were telling it again and again that no military or para-military force was required for holding the elections.”

CPM polit bureau member Biman Bose rejected the chief minister’s claim that the three opposition parties had conspired to postpone the elections. “The Trinamool Congress leaders have developed a habit of smelling conspiracy in every move taken by their opposition. We always want panchayat election to take place. Now it will happen and we are happy,” he said.

Panchayat bodies in the 17 districts complete their terms in July. The Left Front controls 13 districts, Congress and the Trinamool have two each. The results will be closely watched to gauge the popularity of major political parties before 2014 general elections. There are over 58,000 seats up for grabs in the state panchayat polls.