Cal HC:Bengal panchayat poll results subject to final orders

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday said that the panchayat elections in West Bengal and the declaration of results will be subject to its final orders in connection with matters which it is hearing over allegations of electoral malpractices on the day of polling.

The court directed the State Election Commission (SEC), the state government and the central government to file affidavits dealing with all the allegations made in three petitions alleging malpractices.

"When the court is seized of the matter, it goes without saying that whatever has been done thus far, i.e, the conduct of the elections and the declaration of results, will be subject to the ultimate orders that may be passed in this writ petition," he said.

The court directed that the SEC should inform this aspect to all the candidates who have been declared elected. Alleging large-scale violence and electoral malpractice during the panchayat election on July 8, the petitioners prayed for a direction to the SEC to conduct repolling in around 50,000 booths.

Repolling was done in 696 booths and counting of ballots began on July 11.

One petitioner who displayed videos showing alleged rampant malpractices on the day of the election was directed to furnish a copy of the videos to the lawyers of the SEC, the state and the central governments by Wednesday. 

TMC poised to sweep Bengal rural polls, bags over half of 63,000 gram panchayat seats

The ruling Trinamool Congress on Wednesday looked poised to sweep the rural polls in Bengal as the overnight count of ballots gave it an unassailable lead in results declared till now by the State Election Commission.

The TMC has won in 34,694 gram panchayat seats, besides leading in 677 seats, according to the SEC as of 1pm on Wednesday.

Its nearest rival BJP has won 9,656 seats and is leading in 166 seats. In all elections are being held for 63,229 gram panchayat seats. The CPI(M) has won 2,926 and is leading in 86 seats. The Congress won 2,528 seats and is leading in 65.

TMC won 6,335 panchayat samiti seats while leading 214 seats. BJP has won 973 and is leading in 48 seats, while CPI(M) has won 173 seats and is leading in 16 others and Congress has won in 258 seats and is leading in 7 seats. Elections were held for 9,728 panchayat samiti seats.

TMC has also won 635 zila parishad seats so far and is leading in 164 others. The BJP has in contrast won 21 and is leading in 6 seats.

TMC has shamed democracy in Bengal: BJP's Ravi Shankar Prasad

Senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad on Wednesday criticised West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for letting loose a reign of terror during the rural polls and wondered why the central leadership of the Congress and the Left are silent on it. A fourmember BJP factfinding team to West Bengal, led by the former Union minister, said the state unit's demand for implementing Article 355 is "justifiable".

"We had immense respect for Mamataji when she defeated the 34-year-old Left regime in the state. Today, I want to gently remind Mamataji about her evolution in Bengal and national politics.

She was a fighter. But unfortunately, her government has crossed even the records of the Left regarding misrule, anarchy and lawlessness in the state," he said.

The BJP leader told reporters, "Her (Mamata Banerjee) politics is now full of atrocities, which was not evident even during the Left rule."

"Why are so many people being killed? Why so much violence across the state? Is this not the responsibility of the state administration to ensure free and fair polls? This was once the scenario of Bihar, but the state, too, has moved ahead. Mamata Banerjee has shamed democracy in Bengal," he said.

Hitting out at the opposition meeting in Patna, Prasad wondered why the CPI(M) and the Congress brass are silent on the ongoing violence.

"The opposition parties, including Mamata Banerjee, were vocal about BJP posing a threat to the democracy in the country. I want to ask Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury for their silence on the killings in West Bengal. Even their party cadres are being beaten up, so why are they silent?" he questioned.

Prasad mocked the TMC boss over her social media post regarding the party's victory in rural polls and wondered whether Banerjee is "afraid to face the media".

Cal HC dismisses petitions seeking declaration of Bengal rural polls void

The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday dismissed petitions seeking that the 2023 West Bengal panchayat election be declared void because of noncompliance of basic principles of the Constitution and the statute to ensure free and