West Bengal Governor CV Ananda has assured the opposition parties that Panchayat elections in the state will be conducted in a free and fair manner. West Bengal Panchayat elections will be held on July 8 while the counting of votes will be done on July 11. The statement by West Bengal governor comes amidst opposition parties requesting central forces to be called during the panchayat polls.
The Governor CV Ananda on Saturday said, "West Bengal Panchayat election will be conducted in a free and fair manner. Violence will not be tolerated at any cost. I had a meeting with the State Election Commissioner, all steps will be taken to ensure that the elections are conducted peacefully,"
West Bengal BJP President Sukanta Majumdar had met the governor at Raj Bhawan on June 10 to apprise him about the ‘grim law and order situation’ and requested the deployment of the central Parliamentary forces for the upcoming Panchayat polls.
West Bengal Congress President Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury in a letter written on June 9th also requested for conducting the upcoming panchayat polls under the supervision of central forces.
While pointing out the assassination of Congress worker Fulchand Shaikh, Chowdhury argued that anarchy reigns supreme in every nook and corner of the state. In the letter to Bose, Chowdhury wrote that he has solid reasons to be apprehensive about a ‘free and fair election’ in July and noted that thugs and miscreants of the ruling party are preying on the opposition workers in the state.
Panchayat election in West Bengal will be fiercely contested between Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress, BJP and the Congress. It will serve as a litmus test for the ruling TMC government in the state that won with a thumping majority just last year.
(With inputs from ANI)
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