Day of drama and mood swings at poll panel office

KOLKATA: An election panel, for the first time, has fixed a day for nomination, without announcing the poll date.

The state election commission on Saturday notified the extra day for nomination on Monday following the high court order. But it fixed the date even before announcing the date of polls when it happens the other way round. Section 42 of the West Bengal Panchayat Act, 2003 provides that the state shall in consultation with the commission fix the date and hours of polls. Section 43 of the Act says that the commission will announce the various phases of the election process. State election commission officials said that they were following the high court order in “letter and spirit”.

There was high drama and mood swings both outside and inside the SEC office on Saturday with the commission holding back the notification of the extra-nomination day on Monday, April 23, till night.

Trouble broke out in the afternoon when police on duty at the SEC office at Rowdon Square blocked a five-member BJP delegation led by Mukul Roy from entering the office. According to police, the state election commission invited a maximum of two representatives from political parties to come and meet the commissioner. “Our party representative

Jayprakash Majumdar

had a talk with state election commissioner today morning. He told the commissioner that the party will be coming with five representatives. Police now say that they won’t allow more than two representatives,” BJP leader Mukul

Roy

said. While leaving, Roy threatened the police officer on duty that the party would take up the matter with the HC. Later, BJP leaders came in the evening on the invitation of the deputy election commissioner.

Sources in the SEC hinted at some misunderstanding in the office as well. The state election commissioner didn’t like the manner in which panchayat secretary Saurabh Das while coming out of the meeting with the election commissioner told the media that the extra day of nomination has been fixed on Monday. The commissioner apparently didn’t take it in the right spirit because the commission, and not the government, ought to take the decision.