HC extends deadline for filing papers
KOLKATA: In a jolt to West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), its administration and the State Election Commission (SEC), the Calcutta high court on Friday allowed an extra day for candidates to submit nominations for next month’s panchayat polls in the state. The date on which the nominations will need to be filed will be set by the state election commission in consultation with the state government.
While opposition parties welcomed the verdict, Trinamool leaders indicated they will not appeal against the ruling by a single-judge bench of justice Subrata Talukdar.
Since there has to be a gap of 21 days between the last date of nominations and the first day of polling, the dates of polling, too, have to be announced afresh.
The rural polls are crucial as they will provide the only panbengal indicator of the popularity of political parties before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The Trinamool Congress, which wants a larger role in national politics, wants to retain its hold over the state’s grassroots-level politics, while the BJP, fast emerging as Bengal’s main Opposition party, is keen to expand its footprint.
Originally, the last date for submission of nominations was April 9 but Opposition demanded a day’s extension on grounds that violence unleashed by TMC supporters had prevented their candidates from filing the papers. Bengal was set to vote on May 1, 3 and 5. Counting would have taken place on May 8.
“It’s a historic verdict. The court has come forward to help the democratic process that is in peril in Bengal. It is a victory for the people who did not get any help from the police to file nomination,” said Pratap Banerjee, general secretary of the Bengal unit of the Bharatiya Janata
,
Party (BJP).
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee expressed her displeasure and said, “We honour the court order as we are in favour of the elections. We hope SEC will now hold the polls as quickly as possible. A lot of days have already been wasted due to litigation.”
TMC advocate Kalyan Banerjee, however, claimed victory, saying the court did not allow the BJP plea to remove the election commissioner and deploy central forces. Congress welcomed the court order, but said “it does not mean the end of violence”.
“A new date will be announced and a new chapter of violence will be unleashed by the ruling party,” said state Congress president Adhir Chowdhury.
“We will keep a watch on what the SEC does. If the poll panel fails to conduct the polls fairly and independently as is mandated by the Constitution, we can again move court,” said Bikash Bhattacharyya, CPI (M) counsel and former mayor of Kolkata.
The ruling provides relief to opposition parties that have alleged violence by the Trinamool Congress since nominations started on April 2. They claimed that supporters of the ruling party tried to prevent their candidates from filing nominations. At least six persons were killed in poll-related clashes.
The past 10 days have seen intense legal wrangling with the BJP and the Trinamool Congress moving Calcutta high court and Supreme Court over the question of the nomination deadline.
On the night of April 9, the SEC issued a notification extending the filing of nomination by a day (till 3 pm on April 10). But state election commissioner AK Singh withdrew the extension order.
The BJP moved the apex court that ordered the matter to be heard by the Calcutta high court on April 12. At the high court, justice Subrata Talukdar suspended all poll processes till April 16.