TMC alleges conspiracy to derail panchayat polls

Mukul Roy says the conspiracy to derail panchayat election will favour Opposition

The Trinamul Congress on Tuesday alleged that there was a conspiracy to derail the panchayat election, with the State Election Commission (SEC) seeking rejection of the election schedule in the Calcutta High Court.

"There is a conspiracy to derail the panchayat election to favour the Opposition," TMC general secretary Mukul Roy told a public meeting here. "When TMC was in the Opposition, they did not got justice from the SEC and now what are they doing?" Roy said, claiming that there was no democracy in West Bengal during the erstwhile Left Front regime since 1977.

"This is a fight to maintain democracy. We will reach out to the people to explain the conspiracy by Congress, CPI(M) and BJP to derail the election," he said. Attacking the Congress, Roy said there is a decline in its vote share. The SEC in its petition yesterday, had claimed that section 42 of the West Bengal Panchayat Election Act, which stated that the state government was empowered to notify the polls in consultation with it, was unconstitutional.

The Commission had also prayed that it be allowed to seek and deploy central forces for holding the panchayat poll.

The state government had earlier notified the election on April 26 and 30. The SEC had proposed a three phase poll.