Bengal rural poll delay hint ..."could be held in June, July or August"-CM

TT, Calcutta: Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday indicated that Bengal panchayat polls could be held "in June, July or August" this year, surprising many in the administration and the state election commission who had expected a May ballot.

"The polls are due in August. We will hold the election in June, July or August. Before that, all development projects have to be completed," Mamata said during an administrative review meeting in Birbhum's Bolpur.

Sources in the poll panel said they were preparing to hold the elections in May.

"The commission has already sent three letters to the government urging it to spell out the time and phases of the polls. Besides, the commission has asked for a list of 425 observers and almost 3.5 lakh government employees to be deployed in the polls. The commission has started holding meetings with district officials. All these signalled elections in May," said a senior Nabanna official.

But the fact that the chief minister had another plan became apparent when the government did not reply to the letters of the commission.

Sources said the top brass of the government was taking time to decide the best period for the rural polls keeping in mind both administrative and political reasons.

The officials pointed out that the tenure of most boards in the three-tier panchayat system would be over only in August as the previous elections were held in July 2013 following a tussle between the government and the poll panel over deployment of central forces.

Another reason is that Mamata wants to expedite development projects before the monsoon sets in. "The chief minister wants to use the period before the monsoon to expedite development projects," said another official.