Calcutta High Court: State, poll panel to reply to BJP charge

The division bench also directed the poll panel to keep CCTV footage and documents used in the polls

Calcutta High Court : File picture

Tapas Ghosh   |   TT  |  Calcutta   |  17.02.22  : Calcutta High Court on Wednesday ordered the Bengal government and the State Election Commission to file within a week separate affidavits with their views on the BJP’s charge of violence in the February 12 polls to four municipal corporations.

The division bench headed by Chief Justice Prakash Srivastava also directed the poll panel to keep CCTV footage and documents used in the polls.

The order followed a petition by the BJP state unit, alleging that even after assuring the court, the poll panel had failed to conduct peaceful elections on February 12. It alleged large-scale violence against BJP workers and candidates before, during and after polls, particularly in Asansol and Bidhannagar. The BJP’s lawyer sought cancellation of polls to these two civic bodies.

The BJP moved the court on Monday, the day of results. In Asansol, Trinamul won 91 of 106 wards and the BJP seven. In Bidhannagar, Trinamul won 39 of the 41 wards, the BJP none.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has publicly dismissed the allegations.

The BJP’s lawyer said the court should now act against the commission for failing to keep its word of peaceful polls. The lawyers for the state government and the panel claimed that other than stray scuffles, the polls were peaceful. The court issued its order after hearing both sides.

The poll panel also notified March 2 as the date of counting for elections to 108 municipalities on February 27.

In keeping with demands of the Opposition, the commission ensured a two-day gap between elections and counting.

The Opposition had demanded the two-day gap, usually ensured by the Election Commission of India, to keep room for a day to scrutinise the elections and another for re-poll, if any. For civic polls on February 12 and for Calcutta in December last year, there had been a gap of a day between elections and counting.