in West Bengal three tier panchayat elections Has been announced. On July 8, 2023, 5.67 crore voters of the state will exercise their franchise. Such a huge population will vote for 928 Zilla Parishad, 9730 Panchayat Samiti and 63229 Gram Panchayat seats in 22 districts. The counting of votes will take place on July 11. The panchayat elections being held in Bengal are also being seen as the semi-finals of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The head of the state and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee admitted that the elections to be held in May have been delayed.
Nomination will be done for more than 70,000 seats in 7 days
of Bengal State Election Commissioner Rajeev Sinha He announced the Panchayat elections on the very next day of his appointment. He said that on July 8, elections will be held in the state in a single day. The nomination for this started from 9th June, which will continue till 15th June. Opposition parties have alleged that the time given for nomination is not enough. How will the nomination for more than 70,000 seats be done in 7 days? At the same time, the ruling Trinamool Congress has made fun of such statements.
5.67 crore voters will choose their representative
A day earlier on June 8, State Election Commissioner Rajeev Sinha said that people will be able to file nominations till June 15 for the Panchayat elections to be held on July 8. Candidates will be able to withdraw their names till June 20. He said that elections will be held for 928 seats in 22 Zilla Parishads, 9,730 Panchayat Samiti seats and 63,229 Gram Panchayat seats in West Bengal during the three-tier panchayat elections in the state. About 5.67 crore people are eligible to vote in the elections.
State police should be trusted: Rajeev Sinha
The three-tier Panchayati Raj system consists of Gram Panchayat, Panchayat Samiti and Zilla Parishad. However, the state election commissioner refrained from giving a direct answer on whether the elections would be held under the supervision of central forces, as demanded by the opposition parties. Mr. Sinha said that the state has adequate police force to ensure fair and transparent elections. We should have full faith in the state police.
Panchayat elections will be peaceful: Rajeev Sinha
When Rajiv Sinha was asked that the opposition parties are worried that like in the year 2018, there may be violence this time too, he said that this time the elections will be peaceful. SEC insisted, ‘Why should I doubt whether the elections will be peaceful or not? We are confident that the elections will be peaceful and fair. In response to a question regarding announcement of elections without an all-party meeting, Mr. Sinha said that there is no such rule.
In 2018, TMC had won 90 per cent seats.
Let us inform that in the rural elections in Bengal in the year 2018, TMC had won 90 percent panchayat seats and all 22 district councils. These elections were marred by widespread violence and allegations of malpractices. Even the ruling party was accused of stopping the candidates from filing nominations.
Rural elections are not held anywhere under the supervision of central forces
The ruling TMC termed the opposition’s demand for deployment of central forces as unfair. Party spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said, ‘Trinamool Congress has geared up for the panchayat elections. Rural elections in any state are not conducted under the supervision of central forces. Then why should Bengal be an exception? Mocking the opposition for complaining of lack of time to file nominations, Ghosh said, ‘If they don’t get a candidate, we will give them a candidate.’
Unilateral announcement of panchayat elections ‘murder of democracy’
The opposition BJP criticized the unilateral announcement by the SEC as ‘murder of democracy’ and questioned the feasibility of filing nominations for over 70,000 seats within just 7 days. Leader of Opposition Shubhendu Adhikari tweeted, ‘For the first time, panchayat elections have been announced unilaterally without a single all-party meeting being convened at block level, district level or state level.’