West Bengal Panchayat polls: Calcutta HC dismisses petitions, says nomination process should carry on

The Calcutta HC on Tuesday rejected PILs filed by Congress and BJP and said scrutiny of nominations and withdrawal of nominations should continue as it is.  Congress had moved HC regarding discrepancy in nomination notification. BJP had moved HC on Monday alleging massive violence during nomination and claiming it may also happen on election day. But the HC judge Subrata Talukdar rejected both pleas, reports Zee 24 Ghanta. 

During hearing, Congress and BJP lawyers made their points. Later counsel for Election Commission made their argument. They highlighted  the number of nominations filed by opposition workers during the extended time given on Monday. Hearing arguments of both sides, Calcutta HC dismissed the petitions and said they won't intervene in the electoral process at this moment. 

Even before the SEC’s stipulated time of 11 am to 3 pm to file nominations in the contentious panchayat polls came round, violence erupted across West Bengal in which two persons were killed: one at Suri in Birbhum district and another at Gopalnagar area in North 24 Parganas district. SK Dildar, a 25-year-old, was shot dead at Suri I block, allegedly by TMC workers, as he was on his way with his sister-in-law Mariam to file her nominations. Following Dildar’s death, his father first claimed that his son was a BJP activist who was killed by TMC goons, but later in the day, flipped his position completely and in the presence of Birbhum district TMC president Anubrata Mondal, said that his son, along with their entire family, was part of TMC. Mondal went on to add that Dildar had been a TMC worker for at least 10 years.

Making matters murkier, TMC and BJP kept staking claim on Dildar’s leanings. While TMC heavyweight and state urban development minister Firhad Hakim said, “BJP has no foothold in Bengal that is why they had brought in armed goons from Jharkhand and killed one of our men”, Samik Bhattacharya, senior BJP leader maintained, “Dildar had been the general secretary of BJP minority morcha of the district for the last three years and it is sad to see the TMC doing politics over the dead.”

In Murshidabad district too, Congress MP Abu Hasem Khan Chowdhury and Congress MLA Manoj Chakraborty were attacked.  At Samserganj area, bombs had been hurled at Chowdhury’s car and stones were also pelted. “I was going to the party office, not even going to file nominations. How will a common man go to file his nomination? Police has been mere spectator,” Chowdhury said. State Congress president Adhir Chowdhury said, “Police are not only spectators, but also played the role of TMC cadres. We had approached the court apprehending violence by the ruling regime. Our apprehension came true.”
Meanwhile, TMC leaders claimed that the person murdered at Gopalnagar was also their member who had been killed by BJP cadres.