Alleging that a conspiracy has been hatched by opposition parties to prevent her government from holding timely panchayat polls, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Friday asserted that development would not be affected and the elections would be held at the right time.
"We have been trying to hold panchayat election in the state since September. Who has gone to court? Those who will lose. The CPI-M, Congress, the BJP went to court," Banerjee said at a public meeting in Burdwan town, hours after Calcutta High Court delivered a virtual snub to the her Trinamool Congress government, by rejecting the two-phase poll schedule the regime had drawn up earlier and ordered a three-phase timetable.
Giving its order on a petition moved by the State Election Commission, Justice Biswanath Somaddar also directed the state government to fully compensate the shortfall in security forces by deploying central paramilitary forces to the "full satisfaction" of the SEC.
Assuring the people that the state government would ensure there was no obstacle in the functioning of the panchayats, the chief minister said: "We will hold the panchayat elections at the right time. Development will not be affected - be it the 100 days' work or other schemes".
Banerjee said her government was well aware of the laws and would go by them.
"But we won't bow our head before the conspiracies of the CPI-M and the Congress."
Flaying the opposition, she said: "Those pulling strings from behind, will be swept away. We will ensure that by taking the people with us."
