WB panchayat polls: Calcutta HC orders fresh dates for nomination, polls

The Calcutta High Court on Friday sets aside it's earlier order and directed the state Election Commission to issue fresh extension for filing of nomination and polls in connection with the West Bengal Panchayat Election matter.

On April 13, the West Bengal government moved the division bench of the Calcutta High Court over the process of conducting the panchayat elections, scheduled to be held next month.

The Calcutta High Court had stayed the ongoing panchayat election process in the state till further orders.

While staying the election process, Justice Subrata Talukdar sought a comprehensive status report from the West Bengal State Election Commission on the poll process on the number of nominations filed and the percentage of nominations rejected by Monday.

On April 9, the state election commission extended the last date to a day for filing nominations for panchayat elections.

The decision was made after violence marred the filling of nominations for panchayat polls in the state.

On April 6, over 25 political party workers were injured after a clash erupted between workers of Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Jalpaiguri district over the filing of nomination for the upcoming panchayat polls.

Many vehicles were vandalised during the clash. Reportedly, a BJP party office was also burnt by TMC workers.

The West Bengal panchayat elections will be held in three phases from May 1 to 5.