The Supreme Court’s refusal to modify the Bengal panchayat poll dates which clash with the month of Ramzan may in the final run hit the ruling Trinamool Congress hard, feel Muslim organisations and Opposition parties in the State.
Close on the heels of the apex court turning down the Bengal Government’s plea to pre-pone or postpone the five-phase panchayat elections so as not to inconvenience the 38 per cent Muslim electorate, some Muslim leaders lambasted the political outfits for trying to play with the religious sentiments of the community.
Pirzada Toha Siddiqui of the Furfura Sharief, the largest congregation of any given sect of Bengal Muslims, on Tuesday said, “It seems that all the political parties are trying to play with the religious sentiments of minority community that form such a big percentage of voters,” adding “those who were at the decision-making positions should have taken utmost precaution to ensure that the polls did not clash with Ramzan.”
Insisting that “the Muslims have utmost regard for the Constitution and the Supreme Court would not take kindly the attitude of the powers that be” he said, “we will still take part in voting to ensure that our right is preserved.”
Adding that “there are some political parties shedding crocodile tears for the minority community” he insisted, “the Government should have been more serious about holding the polls on time.” He urged the State Election Commission to make special provisions so that those keeping Roza were not inconvenienced.
Abdul Mannan, a senior Pradesh Congress president, said, “The Government has all these years been playing with the minority sentiment. They must apologise before the minority community” wondering “why if the Government was so serious about the polls taking place on time did not provide for 50,000 forces that they promised on Tuesday.”
CPI(M) leader and former MP Md Salim said, “It is high time the Muslims identified the political imposters who have been exploiting them for narrow political gains” blaming the senior Trinamool leaders like “Panchayat Minister Subroto Mukherjee and law Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya who dilly-dallied the poll process.”
left Front chairman Biman Bose said, “The State Government is solely responsible for the panchayat polls clashing with high monsoon and Ramzan period.” He wondered “the Government advocates could tell the SC about the Rath Yatra and Trinamool Congress Martyrs’ Day but they conveniently forgot about Ramzan during when the case was being heard in the apex court.
BJP State president Rahul Sinha thanked the apex court for establishing the supremacy of the Constitution and law over everything. “We had told earlier that it would be futile to move the court with such frivolous pleadings,” he said, insisting the Trinamool Congress, left and Congress were trying to exploit the Muslim sentiment to stall the panchayt elections.
The Supreme Court had on June 28 ordered a five-phase panchayat election on July 11, 15, 19, 22 and 25 after a long battle between the SEC and the State Government over availability of forces and fixing of dates.