Calcutta, May 14: Left Front chairman Biman Bose today welcomed the high court division bench verdict on the panchayat polls but expressed doubts on whether free and fair elections could be held in the absence of central forces.
“We welcome the division bench verdict. We expect the state government and the state election commission to hold free and fair polls. But if central forces are not deployed, we doubt whether free and fair polls can happen,” said Bose, also the CPM state secretary, at a news conference in Alimuddin Street this evening.
Asked about the reason for the apprehension, Bose said: “In the past two years, we have seen how a section of police has been working for the Trinamul administration. Actually, they are hand-in-glove with the ruling party. So that is reason enough for us to worry.”
He referred to how the police had “mishandled” the alleged custodial death of a Trinamul supporter in Dhaniakhali, which prompted Calcutta High Court to order a CBI probe yesterday.
“We have always been against a CBI probe on law-and-order issues. But the Dhaniakhali incident has exposed the police-Trinamul nexus. So we cannot rule out the possibility of the state police working for the Trinamul government during the panchayat elections,” the CPM state secretary said.
Opposition leader Surjya Kanta Mishra of the CPM said the state government could deploy the central force personnel stationed in Jungle Mahal and Darjeeling for the panchayat elections.
“We are not saying that the deployment of central forces (for the rural elections) is a must. But the state government can request the Centre to allow the central police personnel stationed in Jungle Mahal and the hills to be on panchayat election duty.”
State Congress president Pradip Bhattacharya said his party was “happy” that the panchayat polls would be held in three phases. “We are happy that the rural polls will ultimately be held as there was a big question mark on it because of the stand-off between the state election commission and the state government,” said Bhattacharya.
