Bengal Panchayat Election Date Announced, To Be Held In Single Phase

West Bengal Panchayat Election: Candidates can start filing their nominations from June 9. Votes will be counted on July 11.

Security personel stand on guard at a polling booth during West Bengal panchayat election

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The West Bengal panchayat election will be held in a single phase on July 8. Candidates can start filing their nominations from June 9. Nominations will be accepted till June 15. Votes will be counted on July 11.

"The panchayat polls will be held on July 8. The last date for filing nominations is June 15. The last date of withdrawal of nominations is June 20," Rajiva Sinha, State Election Commissioner, said on Thursday.

The three-tier panchayati raj system consists of gram panchayat, panchayat samiti and zila parishad.

The panchayat election will be a litmus test for the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool government ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in 2024. The polls come at a time when the ruling party is facing various charges of corruption and a number of its leaders have been arrested by CBI and ED.

The previous election in 2018 was marred by widespread violence and bloodbath. The violent incidents are believed to have swayed a large number of voters away from the Trinamool in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, in which BJP won 18 out of the 42 seats and secured 40.25 per cent of the votes (just three per cent less than TMC).

Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek has already embarked on a two-month, 3,500 km journey across West Bengal, starting from Coochbehar in north Bengal to Kakdwip down south, to reach out to the public ahead of the rural polls. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has also addressed several rallies.

The campaign has been divided into two parts -- 'Jana Sanjog Yatra' (mass outreach campaign) and 'Gram Banglar Motamot' (opinion of rural Bengal).

The party has been conducting ballot exercises during their outreach programme to determine the preferred candidate for the upcoming polls.

Meanwhile, the BJP too has intensified preparations for the panchayat polls. Last month, Union Home Minister Amit Shah came to West Bengal and held a meeting with the top leadership of the state BJP.

In the meeting, Shah advised the leaders to strengthen the organisational base and booth-committees of the party in the state and focus on reaching out to as many people as possible.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also likely to hold a rally in one of the tribal dominated districts of West Bengal this month, IANS reported.