Utter confusion was created by the state government and the state election commission over announcement of dates for conducting the panchayat elections till late this evening.

The Calcutta High court directed the commission to redraw the poll schedule with a provision for a new nomination date for candidates unable to do so due to the continuing violence and obstructions from the ruling party.

At around 5.00 p.m., Mr Sourav Das OSD, panchayat department said that the SEC will issue a notification within half an hour and that the nomination will be accepted on Monday. Mr Das, however, did not say anything about the election dates.

BJP delegation led by Mukul Roy, after meeting the commissioner, however, said that the latter had informed them that no decision has been taken over holding the nomination process on Monday.

The commissioner reportedly informed the BJP team that it will hold a second round of talks with the state government on Monday following which a decision would be taken on drawing the poll schedule.

Sources in the commission said that Mr A K Singh, State Election Commissioner was uncomfortable at the manner in which state representative (Mr Das) had announced the panchayat dates has it was beyond his jurisdiction.

During the day, BJP went into a tussle with the commission, initially threatening to move court against the latter for disallowing them to enter the commission office. The commission had allowed only two members from each political party and refused BJP’s five-member delegation.

Later, the team yet again visited the commission office informing that they had submitted their complaint before the register, High Court.

Finally, the BJP team reached the commission at 7.00 p.m and met the commissioner.

“The commissioner told us that the dates would be announced on Monday after another round of consultation with the state government. It doesn’t matter whether the polls are held on a single day or in two phases. What is important is that there should be adequate police forces,” said Mr Mukul Roy after the meeting.

TMC secretary-general Partha Chatterjee on Saturday met the commissioner. He said they do not want the polls to be held during the scorching heat of summer or during the monsoon or during Ramzan.

“ We want the elections to end before the beginning of Ramzan. The party is with the commission in its move to conduct the polls peacefully. We are hopeful that the state government and the commission will keep our three demands in mind while deciding on the dates of election” Mr Chatterjee said.

The CPI-M delegation led by leader Rabin Deb said they have informed the commissioner that the voting might be held on any day but the violence that had been unleashed during the nomination process should not be repeated and security of the candidates and the voters have to be ensured during the the polls.