West Bengal Panchayat Elections: Governor Bose Chairs Meeting With SEC, Vows To Ensure Free and Fair Polls

West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose affirmed on Saturday that the forthcoming state Panchayat elections would be conducted in a transparent and unbiased manner.

West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose vowed on Saturday that the upcoming Panchayat elections would be free and fair. He stated that violence will not be tolerated at any cost and that every effort will be made to ensure that the elections are peaceful. Bose made the remarks following a meeting with the State Election Commissioner. Bose expressed confidence that the elections will be held in a free and fair manner. He stated that the SEC has assured him that all necessary preparations have been made to ensure peaceful elections.

The Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party are engaged in a verbal brawl over the security for West Bengal's upcoming panchayat election. The state's panchayat election will be held on July 8, and the votes will be counted on July 11.

Sukanta Majumdar, chief of the BJP in West Bengal, said the party was ready for the election but that it would be impossible to hold it without central forces. In response to the West Bengal State Election Commission's (SEC) decision to hold the election with the assistance of state police forces, Majumdar stated that there aren't enough police officers to monitor all of the state's 63,000 panchayat polling booths.

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The Calcutta High Court on Friday directed the state election commission to consider deploying central forces during the elections and to extend the deadline for filing nominations. Opposition parties, including the Congress and the BJP, had petitioned the Court for the deployment of central forces during the elections as well as more time to file nominations.

The BJP demanded that CCTV cameras be installed in every polling station, while the Congress said that central forces were needed to prevent the violence and intimidation that occurred during the 2018 panchayat elections.

TMC MP Saugata Roy argued that the high court issued an observation rather than a verdict. "It may or may not be implemented. It is up to the State Election Commission to take cognizance of it or not," Roy said. He also said that the BJP and Congress are causing a "ruckus" because they are unable to field candidates.

West Bengal has a total of 3,317 gram panchayats and 58,594 village panchayat election centres. There are 63,283 panchayat seats in total.