TMC claims oppn wants to delay panchayat polls; BJP, Cong hit back

The ruling Trinamool Congress on Friday claimed that the opposition parties in West Bengal were trying to delay the panchayat elections in the state.

The TMC's statement came after the BJP and Congress moved the Calcutta High Court, stating that the time provided for filing the nominations for the July 8 elections was inadequate, besides urging for the deployment of central forces.

Hearing the petitions moved by state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP, the court observed that the time given for filing nominations was prima facie inadequate and sought the State Election Commission's (SEC) response on June 12.

TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh told PTI, ''We have nothing to say on the directions of the court. We have full respect for the judiciary. But the fact is that the opposition -- BJP, CPI(M), and Congress -- were trying to delay the panchayat polls out of fear of defeat and inability to put up candidates in all seats.'' ''We challenge them to publish the list of their candidates for all the seats,'' he said.

Elections will be held for nearly 75,000 seats in the three-tier Panchayati Raj system on July 8. The nomination process, which began on Friday, would continue till June 15.

Congress leader Chowdhury said the people of West Bengal can cast their votes only if central forces are deployed.

Targetting Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, he said, ''If you are not scared and if you are keen on organising the panchayat elections, then why are you reluctant on giving permission for the deployment of central forces?'' He also said that more time should be given for the filing of nominations.

''Didi (Mamata Banerjee) must file an affidavit in the Calcutta High Court declaring that she will ensure free and fair polls. We are not trying to escape the elections but want it to take place peacefully,'' he said.

''We remember the 2018 panchayat polls when around 34 per cent of the population could not cast their votes because of terror. The TMC won at least 20,000 seats without any contest as people could not file nominations. Around 60-70 people were murdered,'' he alleged. The BJP alleged that the reason behind the ''short'' time given for the submission of nominations was to stop the opposition parties from fighting the elections.

''It is aimed at looting the public mandate. The SEC and the ruling TMC want to turn this panchayat election into a farce as they did in 2018. And regarding our list of candidates, the BJP would put up a strong fight in all the seats,'' BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya told PTI.

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