It will ensure safety of elected members and people.
The Calcutta High Court on Thursday directed that the Central forces will remain deployed across West Bengal for 10 days after the panchayat poll results are declared on July 11 in order “to ensure the safety of people and elected panchayat members”.
The Division Bench of Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam and Justice Uday Kumar passed the order while hearing a plea of BJP MLA and Leader of Opposition in Assembly Suvendu Adhikari who sought deployment of Central forces in the state apprehending post-poll violence.
The BJP leader had filed a contempt petition against the State Election Commission (SEC) for not following the High Court’s orders on the deployment of Central forces.
The matter is listed for further hearing on July 10.
The State Election Commission, meanwhile, directed district authorities to ensure that two armed police personnel — one each from Central and state forces — are posted at each polling booth on the day of voting on July 8.
Two days ago, the High Court had ordered the deployment of Central forces at all the polling stations on July 8 — the voting day.
Earlier, on the High Court’s order, the SEC has deployed 822 companies of Central forces in the state.
HC cautions poll panel over model code
Meanwhile, the High Court cautioned the state poll panel to be “more careful” on matters such as the launch of the state government’s mass outreach programme ‘Sorasori Mukhyomontri’ (Direct To Chief Minister) for alleged violation of the model code of conduct (MCC).
Adhikari had filed a petition in the High Court on Wednesday alleging that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was violating the model poll code by taking part in the government campaign.
The government campaign was, however, launched days before the panchayat election notification was issued.
Adhikari alleged that the phone number used for the outreach programme is the same which was used in a similar scheme introduced before the 2021 Assembly polls called ‘Didike Bolo’ (Tell Your Didi), which was a political initiative by the Trinamool Congress.
SEC counsel Kishore Dutta informed the court that the phone number in question had been withdrawn on June 15. After hearing the arguments of both sides, the Bench cautioned the SEC.
