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The all-party meeting convened by the West Bengal State Election Commission (SEC) on Tuesday ahead of the panchayat elections failed to allay the grievances of Opposition leaders as violence continued to mar the nomination process for the July 8 poll. The process of filing nominations started on July 9 and the last day to submit papers is July 15.
The meeting, which was called by State Election Commissioner Rajiva Sinha, was held at the poll panel’s office in Kolkata and lasted for around an hour, officials said.
BJP leader Samik Bhattacharya said, “Till Tuesday, in at least in 50 blocks no Opposition candidate could file a nomination. Then too the commission failed to assure Opposition leaders that it will give us all possible protection. We have no confidence in the SEC.”
Congress leader Ashutosh Chatterjee alleged that a bomb was recovered from a TMC leader’s car within the nomination centre premises. “A farce is being attempted in the name of election,” he added.
During the meeting, CPI(M) leader Shamik Lahiri questioned the deadline for filing nominations set by the poll panel.
“There are 73,887 seats. On an average, 10 candidates per seat want to submit nominations. That’s a total of over 7 lakh nominations. The time to file nominations every day is just eight hours and there are just two days left.”
Meanwhile, the TMC hit back at the Opposition.
“The Opposition is deliberately flaring up violence in the state and trying to malign the government by creating chaos. We want free and peaceful elections,” said Biswas.
— With PTI inputs
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