Panchayat Polls: Calcutta HC Seeks Explanation on Withdrawal of 20,585 Nominations

The Kolkata High Court on Friday sought an explanation from the State Election Commission (SEC) on why as many as 20,585 candidates withdrew their candidacy for the July 8 panchayat elections in West Bengal.

Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam’s Divisional Board also sought to know why as many as 274 seats in a given bloc in South 24 Parganas district were uncontested by candidates of a particular party.

The court also sought to find out how Moinuddin Ghazi, candidate of the Trinamool Congress in the northern province of Parganas 24, could present his candidacy despite being in Saudi Arabia.

The Division Board asked the SEC to provide these explanations in the form of an affidavit by July 27. The matter has been included in the next hearing on June 28.

The court gave the directions after hearing contempt petitions filed by West Bengal Assembly Opposition Leader Suffindu Adhikari, and Congress MP Abu Hashim Khan Chowdhury.

During the hearing, Additional Attorney General Ashok Kumar Chakrapuri told the court that the Federal Home Ministry had no difficulty in deploying more than 82,000 Central Armed Forces personnel as requested by the State Election Commission.

However, at the same time, he said that such a massive deployment would have been more feasible had there been a five-stage survey, as there was in 2013.

In fact, Adhikari as well as CCP leader Sujan Chakraborty also wondered if 82,000 force personnel would be sufficient for single-stage reconnaissance this time, considering that the number of voters, districts, polling stations and booths has doubled. since 2013.