West Bengal will hold panchayat (rural body) elections on May 14, the State Election Commission announced yesterday.
Repoll, if needed, will be held on May 16.
The counting will take place on May 17, the SEC said in a statement.
The decision came after a recommendation from the state government that the polls be held on May 14.
The elections were earlier slated to be held in three phases on May 1, 3 and 5.
But the schedule was pushed back after the Calcutta High Court stayed the polling process following petitions moved by opposition parties who complained that they were not being allowed to file nominations allegedly by armed men owing allegiance to the ruling Trinamool Congress.
Justice Subrata Talukdar then asked the SEC to extend the deadline for submitting nomination by a day. In conformity with the order, the SEC declared April 23 as the extended date.
Angry over the SEC announcement, the opposition parties said the state lacked adequate number of police personnel to provide fool-proof security and alleged the poll panel never discussed the matter with them, despite a direction from the court.
“The court had directed the SEC to hold discussions with all political parties. So far we have not received invitation for any such deliberations,” said BJP leader Pratap Banerjee.
Left Front chairman and senior Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Biman Bose also pulled up the SEC for not talking to representatives of political parties before announcing the polling date.
Victims of violence in the run-up to the panchayat polls in West Bengal stage a demonstration outside the residence of federal Home Minister Rajnath Singh, in New Delhi yesterday.
