WB govt sticks to two-phase panchayat poll

West Bengal government today stuck to its decision on holding the coming panchayat election in the state in two phases despite the State Election Commission(SEC) recommendation of a three-phase poll under the supervision of central forces.
"We have informed(SEC) of our decision. We stick to two phase panchayat polls," state Panchayat Minister Subrata Mukherjee told reporters here.
To a question regarding deployment of forces, he said, "We proposed to bring in police forces from other states to provide adequate security during the elections."
Quizzed about deployment of central forces when the government was willing to bring in police forces from other states, Mukherjee said "We are confident of conducting the polls by deputing armed police in every polling booth."

The official dates of the panchayat polls are, however, yet to be announced.
Last week SEC in a letter to the state government had recommended three-phased panchayat polls under the supervision of central forces.
Meanwhile, a high level meeting was held between state election commissioner Mira Pandey and the district magistrates and superintendents of police of all the districts regarding panchayat poll.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee too had a meeting with DMs and SPs which official sources said was a routine one.