Voting has commenced in West Bengal’s panchayat elections, which span 73,000 seats.

The West Bengal state’s 73,000-seat panchayat elections have begun their voting procedures.

On Saturday, July 8, 2023, polling for the West Bengal panchayat elections, involving 5.67 crore individuals who live throughout the State’s remote areas and can vote, commenced at 7 a.m. amid extreme caution.

The approximate number of candidates

According to these individuals, a total of 2.06 lakh contenders competes for 73,887 seats in the State’s three-tiered panchayat structure.

About today’s election

This campaign gives political parties another opportunity to evaluate their organisational strengths and weaknesses before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and gives them an overall perspective regarding how the State responds after two years of the TMC administration’s third successive term.

People initially showed up promptly in the wee hours despite the sporadic rain, and it appeared that there were queues outside the voting centres that started as early as 6 a.m.

Every 928 positions in zilla parishads, 9,419 seats in panchayat samitis, and 61,591 seats in gram panchayats are up for election, as announced by the party in power, TMC. The BJP has contestants competing for 38,475-gram panchayat seats, 7,032 panchayat samiti seats, and 897 zilla parishad seats.

The CPI (M) proposes nominees for 35,411-gram panchayat seats, 6,752 panchayat samiti seats, and 747 zilla parishad seats. 11,774-gram panchayat seats, 2,197 panchayat samiti seats, and 644 zilla parishad seats tend to be all up for grabs for election to the Congress.

For the elections themselves, a minimum of 600 battalions of central forces along with approximately 70,000 state police have been mobilized and deployed.

The governor will supervise the election procedures

Governor C.V. Ananda Bose proclaimed on July 7 that the governor and the governor’s staff would be hanging out in downtown areas amid voting, imploring people to make sure they cast their ballots without additional delay. He maintains appointments at Barrackpore, Basirhat, and a portion of Nadia district in the North 24 Parganas space.

A war of words escalates tension

The campaign supporting the ruling party was spearheaded by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and TMC General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee, and it emphasized the development strategies initiated by the state government and the MGNREGA revenue withheld by the Centre.

The BJP, CPI (M), and Congress, the main rival parties, waged a campaign that primarily concentrated on assertions of political violence and corruption, from the panchayat level to the appointment of educators at the state level.

Former Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) and BJP MLA Ashok Lahiri addressed the district authority of Dakshin Dinajpur immediately, conveying his worries about violence and recommending that security measures were insufficient in numerous locations.

He indicated that TMC members terrorized BJP candidates while trespassing into some voting centers at night and snatching ballots.

Contrarily, the TMC alleged that BJP activists had threatened voters in the Itaberia neighbourhood of the Purba Medinipur district.

 

The TMC charged that BJP supporters assaulted one of its staff members in an associated event in Nadia’s Hanskhali.

Despite accusations of violence, TMC secured 90% of the outstanding seats in the majority of recent panchayat elections in 2018, securing almost 34% of the seats despite a single opponent.

The total assortment of seats

In 22 districts, there are currently 63,229 gram panchayat seats, 9,730 panchayat samiti seats, and 928 zilla parishad positions. As Darjeeling and Kalimpong have a two-tier arrangement with the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) and Siliguri Sub-divisional Council at the top, there are 63,229 panchayat seats in every single one of those 22 districts.

The prominence of West Bengal Panchayat elections

Political parties are going to employ the election to determine their organizational abilities and shortcomings before the start of the 2024 elections for the Lok Sabha, in furtherance of escalating an overall understanding regarding how the state is performing after the second year of the TMC government’s third successive term.

Violent occurrences on occasion

After voting dates were made public on June 8, occasional incidents of intimidation transpired throughout the State, culminating in the assassination of over 15 individuals.

West Bengal’s legislative assembly’s historical development

The West Bengal Legislature’s roots may be observed on January 18, 1862, when the Governor-General of British India assembled a 12-member legislative board for the Bengal Presidency with the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal and some additional designated representatives under the Indian Councils Act of 1861. By prevailing moves, the council’s influence swiftly expanded. The Indian Councils Act of 1892 extended the council’s capacity to 20, out of which seven members would be selected. The council currently comprises 50 members owing to the Indian Councils Act of 1909. The Legislative Council was again enlarged to 125 members under the Government of India Act of 1919.

The Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly were designated as the two chambers of the Bengal Provincial Legislature according to the Government of India Act of 1935. The council, which originally had a membership of 63 to 65, was a permanent entity with a five-year lifespan as opposed to the Assembly. Bengal Province was divided into West Bengal and East Bengal (East Pakistan) on the eve of independence in 1947. 90 delegates from West Bengal’s electoral districts made up the West Bengal Legislative Assembly, together with two Anglo-Indian nominees. On November 21, 1947, the Bengal Legislative Council collapsed and the new Assembly convened for the first time.

On June 5, 1952, a total of 240 individuals were appointed to the West Bengal Legislative Council, including two lawmakers from the Anglo-Indian Community.