SC won’t intervene in polls Trinamool Congress virtually unopposed in Birbhum parishad
BENGAL RURAL POLLS Asks the BJP and other parties to approach the State Election Commission with grievances
NEWDELHI/KOLKATA: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to intervene in rural polls in West Bengal, where the election process has been marred by political violence, and asked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and other political parties to take their grievances to the state election commission.
The decision came as a setback for the BJP’S Bengal unit, which had last week filed a petition in the top court alleging that its workers were being assaulted and candidates were being prevented from filing nomination papers by supporters of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC). The BJP had also asked for Central forces for the polls.
While the Mamata Banerjeeled Trinamool appeared to have won the Birbhum zila parishad with 41 of the 42 seats without a contest on the last day of nominations, the state election commission announced later in the evening that it was extending the deadline for filing papers till 3pm on Tuesday.
There are 341 panchayat samitis in West Bengal.
The BJP, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Congress alleged that their candidates were prevented from filing nomination papers, but the TMC denied the charges saying the Opposition was not finding suitable candidates.
The panchayat elections in the state are scheduled for May 1, 3 and 5. The votes will be counted on May 8. As things stand, the TMC controls approximately 90% of the zila parishad and panchayat seats in the state.
A bench of Justices RK Agrawal and AM Sapre, while declining the BJP’S plea on Monday, said it hoped the state election commission would take appropriate measures to address the apprehensions raised by the party. “We are inclined to dispose of this petition by granting liberty to all political parties, their candidates, including any independent candidate/s proposing to contest the election in question, to approach the State Election Commissioner with their any individual or/and collective grievance. We hope and trust that in order to ensure fair and free election to the panchayats, the State Election Commission shall take appropriate steps to remove the apprehensions of the petitioner and/or intending candidates and they may not be deprived of their chance to contest the panchayat elections,” Justice Agrawal said in the judgment.
The BJP responded to the order saying it had already appealed to the state election commission and the governor but the issues remained unresolved. “After all the routes appear closed. We appealed to the apex court for relief, but they said they won’t interfere,” BJP’S West Bengal unit chief Dilip Ghosh said.
The TMC’S Kalyan Banerjee said the reason cited by the BJP to seeking the Central forces were “vague” and that the state government was providing necessary help to the state election commission for conducting free and fair polls.
In 2013, the Centre had provided forces for rural polls following then state election commissioner Meera Pande’s request.
Even as the BJP and the TMC were bickering over the elections, the CPI(M) accused the two parties of having a “tacit understanding”.
“We did not move the court. The courts are not supposed to interfere. There is an understanding between Trinamool Congress and the BJP at the highest level,” said Sujan Chakraborty, a CPI(M)) MLA.
The panchayat polls are being seen as a warm-up match for the BJP and the Trinamool ahead the 2019 parliamentary elections in the state, where nearly 40 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats are located in rural and semi-urban areas. KOLKATA: West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress, accused by the opposition of strong-arm tactics in the run-up to elections to the state’s local adminsitrative bodies, appeared to have gained control of a zilla parishad on Monday, even before a single vote was cast.
It emerged that only Trinamool candidates had filed nominations in 41 out of 42 seats in the Birbhum zilla parishad as of 3pm on Monday, ostensibly the last day for the process. Later in the day, State Election Commission announced that the nomination process was being extended for 24 hours in view of complaints received from political parties and candidates that they were being stopped from filing nomination papers.
Elections to the three-tier local body structure — zilla parishads, panchayat samitis, and gram panchayats — are scheduled to be held on May 1, 3 and 5.
“Only one of our candidates could file nomination from the Rajnagar seat,” said Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’S) Birbhum district president Ramkrishna Roy. In 14 out of 19 panchayat samitis in the district, not a single opposition candidate could file nomination, said Roy. District Congress president Sayed Jimmi also confirmed that opposition candidates were not allowed to file their nominations.
“There is a mosquito net in place to prevent mosquitoes from coming in,” commented Trinamool’s Birbhum district president Anubrata Mondal. “If the opposition is not able to find a candidate, we cannot be held responsible… If CPI(M), Congress leaders telephone me, I shall ensure they can file nomination.”
On Monday afternoon, ruling party leaders started distributing sweets to party supporters.
At Goaltore in West Midnapore district, Bahadur Murmu, 54, a BJP supporter committed suicide allegedly after his wife Jamuna Murmu was threatened by Trinamool supporters who did not want her to file her nomination papers on Monday.
Jamuna Murmu, a resident of Keshia village in the Makli panchayat area, however remained undeterred. She filed her papers after the police sent her husband’s body for post-mortem examination. The area was once a hotbed of Maoist activities.
“Trinamool Congress supporters created pressure on the family. Bahadur and his wife were insulted in public. He could not take it,” alleged Samit Das, district BJP president.
Kaberi Chatterjee, local Trinamool leader, rubbished the charges. “When we are sure about our victory why should we create pressure on anyone? He committed suicide because of family problems and now the BJP is trying to give it a political colour.”
Superintendent of police, West Midnapore, Alok Rajoria said, “The police have registered a case on the basis of the complaint lodged by the wife of the deceased. We are carrying out an investigation.”
At Kandi, opposition parties did not file nominations in 29 of the 30 panchayat samiti seats . In Bharatpur panchayat samiti, the TMC was unopposed in 21 out of 21 seats and in Barwan , in 36 panchayat samiti seats without a contest. Kandi, Bharatpur and Barwan are in Murshidabad district.
At the state secretariat, ADG (law and order), Bengal Police, Anuj Sharma said there would be armed policemen in each of the booths in the state.
Since April 2, when nominations began, three people have been killed and hundreds injured. The injured include CPI(M) leaders, eight-time MP Basudeb Acharya and seventime MP Ramchandra Dom.
THE BJP, THE CPI (M) AND THE CONGRESS ALLEGED THAT THEIR CANDIDATES WERE PREVENTED FROM FILING NOMINATION PAPERS