Jalpaiguri booth presiding officer's error renders only 10 votes valid; TMC wins with 5 votes

Sources said that booth 23 of Sikarpur panchayat in Rajganj block has 1,329 voters. On July 8, 1,018 voters cast their franchise at the booth

TT, Jalpaiguri, 14.07.23 : The results of a panchayat seat in Jalpaiguri have caught election pundits by surprise as the Trinamul candidate, who won the seat, secured five votes.

Trailing the winner, the CPM and BJP candidates got four votes and one vote, respectively.

The reason: over 1,000 ballots in which votes were cast at the booth were rendered invalid as they didn’t carry the “distinguishing mark” — a stamp issued by the district panchayat election officer — and the booth presiding officer’s signature. Only 10 ballot papers of election duty votes met the critera and those 10 were counted.

Sources said that booth 23 of Sikarpur panchayat in Rajganj block has 1,329 voters. On July 8, 1,018 voters cast their franchise at the booth.

On July 10, a day ahead of the counting, the State Election Commission order held that while counting, each ballot has to be checked to ensure it has the seal and the signature for “genuineness of all ballot papers”.

While issuing this order, the poll commission has referred to the handbook of the presiding officers and has said that this is in conformity with rule 57 of the West Bengal Panchayat Elections Rules, 2006.

“But when the ballot box was opened at the counting centre on July 11, it was found that not a single ballot paper bore the stamp or signature and were declared invalid,” said a source in the district administration.

Only the election duty votes, cast by government employees directly or indirectly associated with election-related jobs, met the criteria. They were 10 in number.

“Special arrangements are made at the DCs/RCs (dispersal centres and receipt centres) so that officials deputed on poll duty can also exercise their franchise. Once they do, the ballots are sealed and kept separately. On the date of counting, these ballot papers are sent to the tables of the booths concerned (where an official concerned hails from),” said a state government official with the experience of conducting a number of elections.

As the election duty ballots were counted, it was found that among the 10 votes, Jainal Choudhury of Trinamul got five votes, Md Nur Alam of CPM got four and Rajib Sarkar of the BJP got one.

“Accordingly, the Trinamul candidate was declared winner by one vote,” a source said.

BJP leaders in Jalpaiguri have demanded that the administration take steps against the presiding officer of the booth for the mess.

“The presiding officer is responsible for the situation. It is because of him the mandate of over 1,000 voters turned invalid. Steps should be taken against him,” said Bapi Goswami, the district BJP president.

Contacted, Moumita Godara Basu, the district magistrate and district panchayat election officer, was brief in her reaction.

“There was specific instruction from the State Election Commission. Accordingly, the ballots were cancelled in the booth,” she said.

Singha’s niece wins

Manika Das, the niece of Jibon Singha, the self-styled chief of the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation, has won a panchayat seat in Kumargram panchayat of Alipurduar district.

Manika, who contested as an Independent backed by the Kamtapur Peoples’ Party (United), won from seat 10/51.

In her late 20s, Manika is the daughter of Singha’s sister.

Kalita Das, one of Singha’s sister-in-laws, who also contested a panchayat samiti seat in Kumargram as a KPP-backed independent, lost to her Trinamul rival.

“Political parties have used us for their own interest. That is why I contested as an Independent and want to work for my area's development,” said Manika.

Additional reporting by our Alipurduar correspondent