West Bengal Panchayat Elections 2023 Live Updates

WB Panchayat Elections 2023 Live Updates: Follow ABP Live for the latest updates happening from West Bengal ahead of Panchayat Elections.

Background

WB Panchayat Elections 2023 Live Updates: Hello and welcome to ABP Live to get all the LIVE updates from the ground on the upcoming West Bengal Panchayat Polls 2023. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) is gearing up to compete in the upcoming panchayat polls in West Bengal amidst a flurry of corruption allegations, with political analysts viewing these elections as a preliminary test for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. While the TMC leadership recognizes that the dynamics of the Lok Sabha and village council elections may differ, they consider winning the rural heartland of Bengal as "crucial" for securing a maximum number of parliamentary seats and exerting influence in national politics next year.

Scheduled to take place on July 8, 2023, the state's three-tier panchayat elections will encompass a significant electorate of approximately 5.67 crores. Voters will exercise their franchise to select representatives for nearly 74,000 seats in Zilla Parishads, Panchayat Samitis, and Gram Panchayats.

With the majority of the state's 42 Lok Sabha seats comprising rural and semi-rural areas governed by panchayats, the success of political parties in capturing and exerting influence in these rural areas will be pivotal to gaining an advantage over rivals in the parliamentary elections next year.

During the previous rural polls held five years ago, the TMC secured 90 per cent of the panchayat seats and won all 22 Zilla Parishads. However, these elections were marred by widespread violence and malpractices, prompting allegations from the opposition that they were hindered from filing nominations in various constituencies across the state.