As both the Mamata Banerjee government and the state election commission refused to budge from their respective stands, the standoff over the panchayat polls seemed to be heading for a court battle.
The state government categorically ruled out deployment of Central para military forces for the polls while the ruling Trinamul Congress stepped up its attack against the state election commissioner Mira Pande accusing her of delaying the rural polls as a part of “a conspiracy.”
There was a flurry of activities at both the Writers’ Buildings and the state election commission office throughout the day. The panchayat minister Subrata Mukherjee held a high-level meeting at the state secretariat with the state chief secretary, state home secretary and principal secretary of his department. “We are sending a reply to the last letter sent by the state election commission. There is no change in our stand. If after receiving our letter, the state election commission issues the notification then the panchayat elections can be held on the dates we have announced, April 26 and April 30,” Mr Mukherjee said after an hour long meeting.
He said that the government had clarified the points raised by the commission in its last five-page letter. Reiterating the government stand against seeking Central paramilitary forces, he said: “As we have explained in our last letter, the state government does not consider it necessary to spend nearly `400 crore on 800 companies of Central para military forces.” Mr Mukherjee said that once the state election commission announce the notification, the state government would finalise details about the procurement of armed forces from neighbouring states. “We can have a clear picture of how many forces we need only after the formal announcement of the dates of election from the commission,” he added. When asked if the state government was preparing for a legal battle, Mr Mukherjee said that it did not want to pursue the legal path but if the commission dragged it to the court then it would have to reply. The state election commissioner on Saturday held another round of marathon meeting with senior barrister Samaraditya Pal. The secretary of the state election commission Tapas Roy indicated that they were keeping the legal option open. Sources said that the commission may send another letter to the state government on Monday or it can go to Calcutta high court on Tuesday.
On the other hand, intensifying attack against Ms Pande, the all India Trinamul Congress general secretary Mukul Roy alleged that she was delaying the election to avert the defeat of a political party. Giving his attack another dimension, he said: “We are warning the commission that if due to delay in rural polls even one polling worker dies of heat, we will take his dead body to the commission office holding it responsible.”