Rural poll: HC flays SEC conduct
Tearing into the State Election Commission (SEC), the Division Bench of Justice Biswanath Somaddar and Justice Arindam Mukherjee of Calcutta…
The West Bengal State Election Commission on Saturday issued a notification, fixing the extended date for filing of nomination on 23 April from 11am to 3 pm. The scrutiny will be held on 25 April and the last date of withdrawal is 28 April.
This will be for the first time in the history of panchayat polls that candidates will go to file nominations without knowing the dates of the election.
The election dates will be announced after another round of meeting with the state government on Monday. Meanwhile, the state government is finding it tough to conduct the poll process before 15 May as per the notification issued on 31 March.
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Nabanna sources said the government’s proposed dates for conducting the polls are 14 and 16 May with results on 19 May. But this would require quashing the earlier order and holding the entire nomination process afresh.
The first date available for polls after the extra nomination day is fixed on Monday, is 14 May because it comes 21 days after the last date of nominations on 23 April.
Under the provisions of the West Bengal Panchayat Act, 2003, the date of scrutiny has to be on 24 April and the last day of withdrawal of nomination on 26 April.
The remaining part of the election process — publishing the list of contesting candidates, allotment of symbols, printing of ballot papers, training poll officials and sending them — has to be done after that.
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