Semi-finals of the lok sabha elections in the state…
The panchayat elections in West bengal are being considered as the semi-finals of the lok sabha elections 2024 going to be held next year. This is the last important election in the state before the General election 2024, in which the bjp and the trinamool congress will have to fight. Also, this election is the last chance for the Left parties and the congress to know their condition. 5.67 crore voters will exercise their franchise in the election. For 63,239 seats of Gram Panchayats, 9,730 seats of panchayat Samiti and 928 seats of ZillaParishads, voters will choose their representative during the voting. During the elections, the ruling TMC has raised an issue on the bjp government at the Center for not providing enough funds for the development of the state. In particular, he has targeted the bjp for not getting funds for the Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme ie MGNREGA, which can touch the minds of the voters. On the contrary, bjp has raised the issue of corruption in Gram Panchayats during the campaign.
Who is contesting on how many seats?
Voting is to be held on a total of 73,887 seats in the panchayat elections. Out of these, TMC has fielded candidates for 72,000 seats, while bjp has prepared to contest about 46,000 seats. The CPI(M) has fielded candidates on 42,000 seats and the congress on 14,000 seats. There are also about 20,000 independent voters in the Gram panchayat elections. 61,636 polling booths have been set up for the elections in the state, on which elections are being held through ballot paper.
Month long legal battle on security forces in vain
Mamata Banerjee's government fought a month-long legal battle from the calcutta high court to the supreme court against the deployment of central security forces in the state. The high court ordered the deployment of 822 companies of the Central Force i.e. about 65,000 personnel for peaceful elections in the state. These jawans are also to be deployed for 10 days after the polling so that post-poll violence can also be kept under control. The West bengal State election commission (WBSEC) had decided to deploy state police personnel equal to the number of central security force personnel at polling booths. Due to this, there is a situation of confusion regarding security in the state. Not enough security forces have been sent from the center as well. According to the report of The Hindu, only 585 companies of Central Forces had reached the state till friday evening. However, the rest of the companies have been told to airlift directly to the polling booth on Saturday.
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