Govt sticks to two-phase poll, letter to SEC on Monday
Kolkata, Mar 15 : The West Bengal government was 'sticking to its stand' of two-phase panchayat poll and a letter in this regard would be given to the State Election Commission (SEC) on March 18, Panchayat Minister Subrata Mukherjee said today.
After a meeting with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at Writers' Buildings, Mr Mukherjee said the government was in favour of holding the poll with the help of armed police from neighbouring states like Jharkhand instead of central paramilitary forces as suggested by the SEC.
"We will send the letter to the SEC on Monday abour our willingness to hold the panchayat poll in two-phases with the help of armed police from Jharkhand," Mr Mukherjee said.
The logjam between the SEC and the state government started in January when the former first mooted a three-phase poll with central paramilitary forces.
The state government, which first advocated for a single-day poll with only state police, had made a climbdown to a two-phase poll with armed police from neighbouring states.
But the SEC had 'stuck to its guns' writing a letter to the state government recently suggesting a three-phase panchayat poll with central paramilitary forces.