Bengal panchayat polls: In seats up in the air, coin toss is deciding fates

If the Opposition is to be believed, there should have been more such seats, just that the ruling Trinamool Congress won some others which were headed for a tie by using force or other illegal means.

As per Rule 3, Sub-Rule (7) of the West Bengal Panchayat Act, 1975, if two candidates get the same number of votes in a seat, the choice is made “by lot in such a manner as the Presiding Officer may deem fit”.

A toss is also used to decide the election of a pradhan or up-pradhan if two parties in a gram panchayat are tied on the number of votes. West Bengal is yet to reach that stage as the final tally is still being made for the three-tier elections, involving 70,000-plus seats, which voted using the ballot paper.

Of the results that are in as of now, 267 gram panchayats and 13 panchayat samitis are staring at hung results, and the prospect of a toss to select pradhans and up-pradhans.

With the results not yet in, and the Calcutta High Court putting curbs on their announcement till it has dealt with several poll petitions, a long wait seems likely.

A senior Panchayat Department official said that seats being decided by a toss was nothing unusual in rural polls. “Earlier, under the Left and the Congress regime too, a toss would be held, and in some cases, the ruling party manipulated the result. But, under the TMC regime, if there is a tie, in almost all the cases, the ruling party wins that seat or the gram panchayat.”

BJP leader Samik Bhattacharya said, “The situation in West Bengal is unprecedented. You cannot expect any practice of democracy. There is only grabbing of power by any means. Things have reached such a pass that people have begun seeking out BDOs and police officers to protest against them.”

Congress leader Soumya Aich said that the TMC had “manipulated” the results in many counting centres. “Police teams went to some winning candidates and snatched their certificates, with everything happening under Nabanna’s (the state Secretariat’s) supervision. So, it is clear that the TMC will not wait for a tie.”

However, TMC leader Joyprakash Majumder said, “These are all baseless allegations and cannot be substantiated. Forming a panchayat or samiti is an administrative task, and they will do so as per the law.”