State govt has declared ‘paid public holiday’ for govt employees and workers on the voting day on July 8.
The campaigning for the July 8 panchayat election ended on a bitter note on Thursday after Leader of Opposition in state Assembly Suvendu Adhikari was subjected to ‘thief’ slogans by TMC workers in Nandigram in East Midnapore district.
Thursday was the last day for campaigning with both the TMC and BJP making the most of it.
When TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh was campaigning for his party candidates in Nandigram’s bypass, Suvendu Adhikari’s convoy passed through the same area. Upon seeing the BJP leader’s convoy, TMC workers at Ghosh’s instructions started raising “thief” slogans against Adhikari over loudspeakers. Enraged by the sloganeering, Adhikari was seen saying something from his vehicle. At one point, he even craned his neck outside the window and shouted some words. However, what he said could not be heard due to the high volume of loudspeakers. Security personnel escorting the convoy prevented the situation from escalating and did not allow the convoy to stop. The sloganeering ended once the convoy was out of the area. Both parties, however, did not react to the incident.
Meanwhile, the state government declared a paid public holiday for government employees and workers on the voting day. In a memorandum, the government said the “paid holiday” will be applicable for government workers and employees who are voters in areas where the election will be held. All government offices, educational institutions, government institutions, shops, factories, commercial and industrial institutions located in all the 22 districts will remain closed.
The notification for the panchayat election was issued on June 8 while the nomination process was held from June 9 to 15. Voting will be held in over 60,000 polling booths. Over 5.6 crore people will exercise their franchise to elect candidates in the three-tier panchayat system. Counting of votes will be held on July 11.
