Kolkata: In the wake of violence over filing of nominations for the panchayat polls, the West Bengal Election Commission (WBEC) has extended the last date for filing nominations till April 10.
Earlier, WBEC announced that the last date to filing nominations will be April 9.
On Monday night, WBEC Commissioner AK Singh issued a statement saying that the last date of filing nominations has been extended by a day. “Information has been received that intending candidates and proposers are being obstructed or prevented for making nominations and whereas many intending candidates could not file their nomination papers due to the above disruption. Therefore, the WBEC extends the last date for making nomination for one day (April 10, 2018) from 11AM to 3 PM,” said a statement by Singh.
Recently, the BJP had filed two petitions in the Supreme Court against the Trinamool Congress for preventing opposition leaders from filing nominations.
However, the SC asked the petitioner to approach WBEC in case of any grievances and also instructed WBEC to exercise its power to ensure fair and peaceful polls. The apex court said that it could not interfere with the election process.
Speaking to News18, Bengal BJP President Dilip Ghosh said, “We welcome WBEC decision. The ruling party is afraid of polls and therefore they are preventing us from filing nominations. They know that people will reject the ruling party because of false promises they have made.”
Meanwhile, four policemen were injured in a clash between BJP and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers at Usti in South 24 Parganas district over filing of nominations.
Panchayat polls will be held in three phases on May 1, 3 and 5. The counting of polls will take place on May 8.
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