Opposition parties allege that the commission has made matters worse by recently allowing ministers to avail government transportation facilities while visiting districts headquarters. In the absence of the observers, largescale violations of model code of conduct and violence are continuing unabated.
State Election Commission Secretary S N Roychoudhury said: “It is true that the observers are not present in the districts. But one has to understand that they are government officers and have offices to run in Kolkata. They cannot stay for a month in the districts. But we are trying to send them to the districts one or two days before the polls.”
He added: “Regarding the letter sent to the state government, there is some confusion. Since district headquarters are urban areas, the model code of conduct is not applicable there. We cannot stop a minister from travelling to a district headquarter in a government car or by using government funds. There are chances of ministers misusing this facility.” According to State Election Commission sources, 232 observers have been chosen to keep an eye on the panchayat polls and look for violations of the model code of conduct. They have been chosen from several state government departments and are supposed to file reports regarding their observation. Since none of the observers are in the districts at present, no report has been filed yet. A group of observers were sent to the districts during the time of filing nominations but they returned to Kolkata after spending a day or two in the districts.
Dinabandhu Bhattacharjee, the deputy secretary of public enterprise and industrial restructuring, and also one of the observers, said: “We are the eyes and ears of the commission but not the mouthpiece. We have been instructed to keep our mouths shut and not talk to the press. All I can say is that I am working according to the panel’s instructions.”
Accusing the EC of deliberately turning a blind eye to the incidents of violence in the districts, Congress spokesperson Manas Bhuniya said: “We have already taken up the matter with the commission. I have been campaigning in West Midnapore for the last few days but have not come across even one observer. Who will look into our complaints?”
He added: “CPM is instigating violence. Our candidates are being beaten up. There are villages where all residents have fled out of fear. Lakshmirani Guchait, our Zilla Parishad candidate in West Midnapore, was critically injured by CPM cadres. The commission is giving undue advantage to the CPM and ignoring our complaints. This never happens in general elections. It is only we and the media who are highlighting the violations.”
Trinamool MLA and Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, Partho Chatterjee, said: “A retired officer is heading the commission. What else can you expect? I have met several officials from the commission and raised the issues with them. But nothing has happened so far. CPM has started a campaign of terror with the help of police. Our leaders, who are at the receiving end, are being booked by police.”
He added that CPM cadres are attacking party leaders in districts of West Midnapore, Hooghly, Burdwan, Purulia. “In many areas, Opposition parties have not been able to field candidates due to the violence,” Bhuniya said.
The three-phase panchayat elections have been scheduled for May 11, 14 and 18. The schedule declared by the State Election Commission, is however, tentative. A notification on the dates is expected early next week. Bankura, Purulia and Burdwan will go to the polls on May 11; Nadia, North and South 24 Parganas, Howrah and Hooghly on May 14 and North Bengal and Murshidabad on May 18.