Calcutta, Feb. 25: Mamata Banerjee today opposed the move to hold the rural polls in three phases in May and demanded a one-day poll instead.

State Congress chief Priya Ranjan Das Munshi had made the same demand earlier.

The Opposition had welcomed the Election Commission’s decision to hold the 2006 Assembly polls in five phases while the CPM resented it.

Mamata justified the flip-flop, saying: “Assembly and parliamentary elections are held in phases because of unavailability of central forces. Panchayat polls are different as they are held in one state at a time.”

The Forward Bloc, which had supported the three-phase panchayat polls earlier, echoed Mamata today.