Notwithstanding the Calcutta High Court order based on “consensus” between Bengal Government and State Election Commission to hold panchayat elections within July, the two sides failed to come to a consensus on a host of issues including elections dates and clubbing of districts in various phases.
The one-and-a-half-hour meeting featuring Election Commissioner Mira Pandey, and Chief Secretary Sanjay Mitra and Home Secretary Basudeb Banerjee ended without results as there was no unanimity on issues, said Commission secretary Tapas Roy.
Pandey said, “The Government gave us some dates as did we and finally they will inform us about the dates of the polls.”
The two sides met at the Commission office and differences cropped up within half-an-hour of the sitting, inside sources said adding “the Government officers were not in a position to give any commitment without holding discussion with the political executives.”
Sources said the Commission was not satisfied with the poll arrangement and dates given by the Government. The SEC protested clubbing of most districts with highest number of sensitive booths in one group. There was also “complete lack of unanimity” in the distribution of police forces.
Earlier a Division Bench of the High Court had over turned the single bench ruling rejecting Commission’s plea for Central forces and directed the two sides to hold polls with State armed police keeping, however, avenues open for requisitioning additional police force if needed from the other States, and maybe from the Centre.
While there was no comment from the Government side, Commission sources said an all-party meeting had been convened on Friday apart from a meeting with the DMs and SPs on Friday and Saturday.
This even as Panchayat Minister Subrota Mukherjee earlier questioned Commission’s jurisdiction for convening such meetings before the announcement of poll dates.
Meanwhile, the High Court on Thursday admitted a petition from the Commission to delete the word “consensus” from its earlier order on the panchayat elections. It has earlier passed an order based on “consensus” between the two sides to which the Commission later objected.
The Commission’s step on Friday was aimed at keeping options to move the Supreme Court open, legal experts said.