May hint on rural polls

TT, Calcutta: The Bengal election commission and the Mamata Banerjee government have agreed to hold three-phased panchayat polls in early May and complete the process by May 15, sources said after an all-party meeting with the panel on Thursday.

Although the chief minister had indicated last week that the polls could take place in July-August, the government and the commission have agreed that the elections should be over by Ramadan that begins in mid-May.

"The process is expected to begin with notifications later this week or early next week and end by mid-May. The commission and the government seem to be on the same page," said a source.

"Mamata Banerjee's statement last week was probably an attempt to confuse the Opposition," he added.

At Thursday's all-party meeting convened by commissioner A.K. Singh, the BJP demanded that the notification be issued after April 14 - when the exam season ends in the state - and the elections be conducted in the middle of May to enable a campaign with unhindered use of microphones.

"If the notification is issued in early April, there will be numerous restrictions on use of microphones till the exam season is over," said Jayprakash Majumdar, state vice-president of the BJP.

Majumdar also contended that there was no problem if the election process coincided with the month of Ramadan.

An Opposition leader present at the meeting said the commission expressed its inability to consider the BJP's demand to push back the notification. "The commission said it does not want a conflict or a court battle unlike when Mira Pande was the commissioner in 2013," he said.