Kolkata: Panchayat elections are underway in West Bengal. Gram Panchayat, Panchayat Samiti and Zila Parishad elections will be held on July 8. With the Lok Sabha elections due in the country next year, the panchayat elections, which are going to be held a few months before the Lok Sabha elections, are being seen as a litmus test of the Lok Sabha elections. All parties, including the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the opposition BJP, are putting full emphasis on this election.
Opposition parties had filed a petition in the Calcutta High Court regarding the panchayat elections, on which the court has now decided. The high court, while hearing a petition filed by opposition parties, directed the State Election Commission to conduct free and fair polls. Along with this, the court also said that voters should have faith in the commission.
The Calcutta High Court also termed the time limit set in the notification issued by the High Court for the panchayat elections as inadequate, saying that in our view it has been done in a hurry. The Calcutta High Court has also asked the State Election Commission to consider this. The Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court said that the term of the current panchayat is till August. In such a situation, proper time can be given for nomination.
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