Opposition Leaders "Stopped" From Filing Bengal Panchayat Poll Nominations

Several incidents of clashes were reported from different parts of West Bengal on Monday, as unidentified people allegedly attacked opposition leaders while they were on their way to file nomination papers for the panchayat polls, a senior official said.

The incidents were reported in Daspur (Paschim Medinipur), Kakdwip (South 24 Parganas), Raninagar (Murshidabad), Saktinagar and Barshul (both in Purba Bardhaman) and Minakhan (North 24 Parganas), he said.

A CPI(M) party office at Minakhan in Basirhat subdivision was "vandalised" and the candidate was "assaulted" by unidentified people when he was going to file his nomination, the official said.

In another incident at Sonamukhi in Bankura district, BJP MLA Dibakar Gharami was allegedly attacked by unidentified people as he was heading to the nomination centre.

"Several such incidents of clashes have been reported, and we have sought details in this regard from the DMs and SPs," the senior State Election Commission (SEC) official told PTI.

The development comes on a day the SEC directed all district magistrates and superintendents of police to impose prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CRPC in 1-km radius of all nomination centres.

The orders, which were issued on Sunday, will be in force till Thursday. The panchayat polls are scheduled to be held on July 8.

The SEC official said over 10,000 nomination papers have been filed so far.

Meanwhile, the SEC on Monday told the Calcutta High Court that it can extend the last date of filing nominations for the panchayat polls by a day to June 16.

After hearing petitions of opposition leaders for extension of date for filing nominations and deployment of central forces for the July 8 polls, the court had on June 9 observed that the time given for filing papers is prima facie inadequate.

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