Kolkata: The panchayat polls in West Bengal, scheduled to begin from July 2 was still possible if the Supreme Court before which the matter was gave a direction on Friday, state panchayat minister Subrata Mukherjee said on Thursday.
"The panchayat elections are still possible as per schedule, if the Supreme Court gives a direction on Friday," Mukherjee said.
"We have already placed all documents required by the apex court through our lawyers. We must abide by what the Supreme Court says," Mukherjee told reporters here.
On the question of security forces for the polls, Mukherjee reiterated that nowhere in the country were panchayat elections held with central para-military forces.
"If Centre is not in a position to provide us para-military forces, we have to conduct the election with our own available forces a process which has been followed in seven earlier panchayat elections in the state. But nobody raises these questions making news these days," he said.
"We still believe the panchayat elections are possible with available state forces," the minister said.
Stating that the terms of nearly 33 per cent panchayat bodies had expired, he said SDOs, BDOs and DMs have been asked to look after their administration and finances till the formation of new ones.
PTI
