Poll balls:0, TMC score: 5259 - Ruling party bags 95% of uncontested seats in first phase

Poll balls:0, TMC score: 5259 - Ruling party bags 95% of uncontested seats in first phase

A STAFF REPORTER

Calcutta, June 11: Even before a single vote is cast in the panchayat polls, Trinamul appears set to win uncontested in over 7,000 seats by the end of the nomination stage. The ruling party has already bagged around 95 per cent of the 5,259 uncontested seats in the nine districts that go to polls in the first phase on July 2, sources in the state election commission said. The nine districts have around 35,000 seats. If the trend continues in the second and third phases on July 6 and 9, Trinamul's tally is expected to cross 7,000, which is 13 per cent of the 57,000-odd seats going to polls. According to data available with the election commission as of yesterday — the last day of withdrawing nominations for the first phase — the number of uncontested seats is higher in Hooghly, Bankura, Burdwan and West Midnapore (see chart). "The fate of the rural polls in some districts is out already. Around 95 per cent of the seats are going to the ruling party. This is a record," a poll panel source said this evening. In 2003, the Left Front won over 6,800 seats uncontested, which was 11 per cent of the total. In 2008, the combine got a walkover in about 2,600 of the 2,761 seats that went uncontested. This time, the Left is so far set to win barely 600 seats uncontested. Left leaders accused Trinamul of "flexing muscles" to bag so many seats before the polls. The Left also said the poll panel had failed to ensure adequate security. "The poll panel could not live up to its promise of ensuring that all parties could file their nominations. This (seats going uncontested) happened primarily because of inadequate security," CPM state secretariat member Rabin Deb said. Sources in the poll panel, which had sought 300 companies of central forces in addition to around 45,000 state police personnel for the nomination phase to ensure "free, fair and peaceful" elections, termed the trend "worrisome". "This is something we will investigate…. We will go to court in due time," said poll panel secretary Tapas Ray. Election commissioner Mira Pande met the panel's barrister, Samaraditya Pal, at his residence this evening and discussed the nomination process "prominently". "The commissioner had briefed the governor about this (the poll process) last week. Now we are seeking legal counsel before going to court with the data. We are going to move court in a day or two," a source said. The state government deployed around 3,500 police personnel for the nomination stage, following the 2008 model. The high court had directed the government to follow the model while providing security for the nomination phase. "This is exactly what we had been apprehending. Ideally, even a single uncontested seat is an aberration of democracy. Here, we are looking at 7,000-odd seats in favour the ruling party," the panel source said today. According to him, candidates who are being forced to withdraw their nominations are not coming forward to lodge complaints, making it difficult for the poll panel to act. "The majority of those who have withdrawn their nominations are women…. It is easier to intimidate women and that is getting reflected in the number of withdrawals," a commission source said. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130612/jsp/bengal/story_16998092.jsp#.UbiGlOeBlA0