Bengal, SEC on collision course over panchayat poll dates

The West Bengal government and the State Election Commission (SEC) are virtually on a collision course over holding of panchayat election, with the poll panel recommending a three-phase poll under supervision of central forces while the government wants it to be a two-phase affair.
Asserting that it has the prerogative to decide the dates, state panchayat minister Subrata Mukherjee today said that the dates will be notified after the vote on account is passed by the Assembly on March 15.
"A decision on the dates will be taken after the vote on account is passed," Mukherjee told newspersons in his Assembly chamber here.

"It is the state government's prerogative to decide on the dates," Mukherjee claimed when asked to comment on the ongoing controversy over the SEC's recommendation that the election be held in three phases.
"The law says the panchayat election dates will be decided by the state government in consultation with the Commission and not the other way round," he said.
The minister said that the Commission had been invested with only consultative powers in this regard and not the decision-making authority.

"The powers of the SEC should not be mixed up with the powers of the Election Commission of India, a constitutional body," he remarked.

Mukherjee, however, stated, "There is no clash with the Commission. She (Commissioner Mira Pandey) has the right to suggest," he said.
"We had earlier wanted the election to be held in a single phase only. But, as we are accommodative and want to cooperate, we agreed on two phases," he said.
The SEC in a letter to the state government last week had recommended a three-phase panchayat poll with central forces deployed.
"I can't divulge the details of the letter as it is confidential. But, we have proposed to hold the panchayat polls in three phases under the supervision of central forces because our main priority is to conduct free and fair polls," secretary of SEC Tapas Ray had said.

Peeved over the SEC's recommendation of a three-phase poll to be supervised by central forces, the ruling Trinamool Congress had on Sunday accused the poll panel chief of being partial to the Left Front.
The Opposition Left Front and the Congress have also demanded a three-phase election with deployment of central forces.