Narayanan backs state poll panel for moving Supreme Court

West Bengal Governor M.K. Narayanan Thursday backed the State Election Commission's decision to move the Supreme Court seeking adequate security for holding the panchayat elections.

"it is a step in the right direction," Narayanan told media persons here.

"The need now is to find some way to hold the elections. Going to the Supreme Court is one such means. Because we need to hold the elections with the adequate security. One has to ensure there is no violence," the governor said, a day after the apex court issued notice to the central and West Bengal governments on a petition by the state's election commission.

The matter has been listed for hearing Friday.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's government has been locked in a legal tussle with the SEC on various issues related to the panchayat polls for the past couple of months.

Narayanan's comments received the thumbs up from opposition parties Communist Party of India-Marxist, Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

"He has said he right thing. The commission wants to hold elections. But the Mamata Banerjee government does not. So, the panel moved the Supreme Court," said CPI-M state secretariat member Rabin Deb.

"The SEC has done nothing wrong by moving the Supreme Court. It has every right to move the highest judiciary. The governor is absolutely right," said state Congress chief Pradip Bhattacharya.

State BJP chief Rahul Sinha said: "The governor has said what is true. All people in West Bengal share the same feeling. There was no alternative before the SEC".