KOLKATA: AFTER much confusion
and deliberate attempts on the part of the state government to defer the three-tier
panchayat elections in West Bengal, the Calcutta High Court on May 14 directed
the holding of three phased panchayat elections in West Bengal next month. A
division bench directed the West Bengal government to announce full
notification within three days in consultation with the State Election
Commission. The High Court also directed to complete the poll process by July
15 this year. The division bench did not agree to the state government's
decision of holding the poll in two phases. It has asked the government to hold
the polls in three phases and declare the poll dates after consulting the
Commission.
The division bench in its ruling also directed
deployment of armed police in each hyper sensitive and sensitive polling
booths, though the deployment of central forces was not made mandatory.
Earlier, the State Election Commission had moved the Calcutta High Court
challenging arbitrary announcement of two phased panchayat polls by the state
government without consulting them. The Commission had also raised objection to
the state government's refusal of central forces for holding the elections.
Some grey areas still remained after the verdict
about the consultation process between the state administration and the State
Election Commission.
Expressing satisfaction on the verdict of the
High Court, Biman Basu, the chairman of West Bengal Left Front Committee, said
that at last the stalemate on panchayat elections seems to be cleared. He
welcomed the deadline set by the division bench of the High Court that the
panchayat elections of the state have to be organised by July 15. He demanded
that without wasting more time the state government and the State Election
Commission should initiate the process of election immediately by releasing the
election schedule. The demand of the Left Front will be to ensure free, fair
and peaceful election, he said in a press conference at Muzaffar Ahmed Bhawan
on May 14, 2013. The Left Front is organisationally prepared to take part in
the elections, he added further.
Biman Basu also said that the people became
apprehended of losing their long-cherished democratic right. The Left parties
repeatedly demanded for the timely panchayat poll and also said about the
emergence of a constitutional complexity if the process is not completed in its
due course. The absence of elected bodies would also have been responsible for
stopping the national grants for rural development. The verdict of the court to
hold the election immediately will ultimately release the apprehension of the people,
he added. Biman Basu further said that the State Election Commission has to
complete the three-tier elections and gazette the names of the winning
candidates by this time. He also said that the elections of the students’ union
should also have to be initiated. The adult students will cast their votes to
elect their representatives in parliament, assembly, municipality and
panchayats but how can they be debarred form electing their representatives in
colleges and universities, he wondered.
Biman Basu also said that a section of the state
police is blatantly toeing the directions of the TMC leadership. The recent
verdict of the High Court in favour of CBI investigation regarding the murder
of a TMC worker in Dhanekhali, Hooghly is a recent evidence of that. The police
also lodged false cases against the CPI(M) leadership and activists in Arambagh
in the name of arms-recovery. With such regular incidents it would be tough to
keep faith on the neutrality of the state police, he articulated. “As we want the
panchayat elections to be completed in time, so we are not raising this issue
immediately,” said Biman Basu. But if the Left candidates face obstruction
during filing of nomination or campaign then the matter will surely be taken
up, he added.
Biman Basu further said that the Left Front is
organisationally prepared to take part in the elections. The complete unity
between the Left Front constituents has already been achieved in most of the
districts. Few disputes will be sorted soon, he added.
Leader of the Opposition and CPI (M) Polit
Bureau member Surjya Kanta Mishra commented that it was hard to expect that the
state government would be neutral in the process of the election; so the
responsibility to hold free, fair and peaceful election is lying with the State
Election Commission. He also said that
the Left Front and some other political parties launched movement for the
demand of timely panchayat elections and ultimately the verdict could show ray
of hope in that direction. It is better to settle the matter here instead of
going to upper court to save further delay in the process, he said.
Surjya Kanta Mishra also said that the people of
the state have witnessed the open threats given by the state ministers, MPs,
MLAs and other leaders of TMC that they will ensure such an arrangement where
the Left candidates will not even be allowed to file the nomination papers for
the panchayat elections. Though the State Election Commission will be in-charge
of the administration after the announcement of the election but the state
government does not think twice before maligning any institution if they do not
toe with the government line, may it be the State Election Commission, Human
Rights Commission or judiciary. We are experiencing political intervention in
the police administration. They hardly enjoy an atmosphere to work
independently, he said.
Peoples
Democracy, May 19, 2013
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