TMC lauds SC panchayat verdict, calls it win for 'ma mati manush'

(Reporting by Kamalika Sengupta, Moumita Chakraborty and Anjan Roy)

Kolkata: In a relief to the West Bengal government, the Supreme Court on Friday allowed the Election Commission (EC) to notify winning candidates on uncontested seats in the West Bengal panchayat polls. The apex court did not allow the pleas of Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), seeking cancellation of panchayat polls over the 34 percent uncontested seats.

Welcoming the verdict, Trinamool Congress (TMC) Secretary General of Partha Chatterjee said, "This is a win for ma mati manush. The opposition is trying to play games and it is now proved that nothing can surpass the law." 

Meanwhile, BJP state President Dilip Ghosh said, "We have lost in the court but we will see in the field."

Sources from the party reveal that the question 'how can 34 percent remain uncontested' will be the opposition's formidable point of the campaign against Mamata Banerjee before the Loksabha election. 

CPI(M) central committee member Rabin Deb said, "We are not satisfied. We are surprised. This is an anti-people verdict."

Out of a total 58,692 posts for gram panchayat village, zilla parishad and panchayat samiti, 20,159 of them remained uncontested.

Out of the 48,000 gram panchayat seats, more than 16,000 go uncontested. The elections were held in phases for 48,650 posts in Gram Panchayats, 825 posts in Zilla Parishads and 9,217 posts in Panchayat Samitis and it has been alleged that around 34 per cent seats were uncontested.