In the wake of unrest and violence in West Bengal ahead of the upcoming panchayat elections, Calcutta High Court had directed the state election commission (SEC) to send a requisition to the Centre for deployment of central forces within 48 hours.
A division bench of the High Court, led by Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam directed the SEC.
The chief justice also ordered the SEC to install CCTV cameras at every booth and corner of the counting centres to monitor the situation.
Allegations were raised by the Opposition that the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) was resorting to violence and intimidation to prevent their candidates from filing nominations.
The rural polls will be held in a single phase on July 8 and the counting of the votes will take place on July 11. Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in 2024, the rural polls hold significance in the state.
Meanwhile, the division bench had reserved the order on a PIL filed by Suvendu Adhikari, leader of the Opposition, alleging violence during the filing of nominations.
"There are two ways on how we understand the role of the SEC. We are not here to advise you (SEC) to accept our judgment as it is. If you are aggrieved, you can take it to appeal. But if you are of the view that your action is to thwart or make the judgment unworkable, we are not here to sit silent," the Chief Justice said, reported Times of India.
On the last day for filing nomination papers on Thursday, electoral violence escalated in West Bengal leaving three dead and several others injured.
Incidents of violence were reported in Bhangar of South 24 Pargana and Chopra of North Dinajpur.
HC in its earlier order directed the SEC to identify sensitive areas in the state and also sought the deployment of central forces.
The violence triggered a political slugfest between the Opposition CPI(M), Congress, BJP and the ruling TMC.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the Opposition of trying to spoil the image of the state by unleashing violence. She denied involvement of her party behind the clashes.
Several incidents of clashes were reported from different parts of the state.
"In around 74,000 booths, some incidents have occurred in only two or three. Our party workers are not involved in those incidents," said Banerjee.
"Opposition parties are trying to create disturbances by orchestrating violence while filing nominations. They are doing it to tarnish the state's image. If they (the opposition) think they will unleash one-sided violence, then people will give a befitting reply," she said.
The state's three-tier panchayat election encompassing a significant electorate of approximately 5.67 crores, will exercise their franchise to choose representatives for nearly 75,000 seats in zilla parishads, panchayat samiti and gram panchayats.
In the 2018 rural polls, the TMC won 90 per cent of the Panchayat seats in the state and all 22 Zilla Parishads.
(With PTI inputs)
