Bengal Panchayat elections: Mamata government moves Supreme Court against deployment of central forces

New Delhi: The State Election Commission and the state government on Saturday approached the Supreme Court against the Calcutta High Court order on the deployment of central armed forces across the state for the upcoming panchayat polls, triggering a political impasse in West Bengal. Approaching the apex court in this matter is a U-turn from the SEC’s earlier stand of following the order of the Calcutta High Court. SEC Rajiv Sinha had said late on Thursday evening that he would follow the order of the Calcutta High Court.

Reacting to the development, Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly Shubhendu Adhikari said the move was pre-planned by the state government and the SEC and hence they too moved the Calcutta High Court soon after the passage of a caveat in the top court. was filed. command of.

State Congress president in West Bengal and veteran party Lok Sabha member Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said Rajiv Sinha may have said on Thursday that he would abide by the Calcutta High Court order as no clear instructions had come to him from the chief minister’s office. Until then.

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“Now with the direction coming, they have done a U-turn. The Calcutta High Court order has accepted the arguments of the opposition parties and hence the state government and the SEC are approaching the apex court to stop the deployment of the armed forces Are.” Chowdhary said.

Like Adhikari, Congress Lok Sabha member from Malda (South) Abu Hasim Chowdhary had also filed a caveat in the Supreme Court in the same matter.

CPI(M) Central Committee member Sujan Chakraborty said the office of the State Election Commissioner is “functioning as an extended arm of the State Secretariat”.

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He said, “Instead of taking independent decisions, Rajiv Sinha is working according to the whims of the state government and the ruling party.”

Till the time the report was filed, there was no official statement from the Trinamool Congress. However, a senior member of the state cabinet, on condition of anonymity, said that as per the norms, the SEC should work in coordination with the state government and the latter should update the commission of the security system available.

He said, “In this case, the Calcutta High Court directly directed the SEC to deploy central forces bypassing the state government. This is probably why the commission and the state government have approached the Supreme Court.”