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Synopsis

Bharatiya Janata Party Leader Suvendu Adhikari has moved the Calcutta High Court seeking direction to deploy Central Forces to ensure fair and transparent elections of the three-tier gram panchayat system in West Bengal in view of the recent large-scale violence in West Bengal.

He has submitted that the State of West Bengal in the recent past has witnessed large-scale violence during the conduct of various elections and as a matter of fact, the violence which was perpetrated during the election to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly conducted in 2021 was taken judicial note of by the High Court.

The plea also seeks direction to provide protection to the candidates in such Gram Panchayat elections contesting from the ticket of the opposition in the State of West Bengal.

The plea highlights the alleged systematic abuse of administrative powers by the ruling political dispensation in the state to manipulate the process of conduct of elections thereby manipulating the outcome.

Adhikari has alleged that consorted efforts are being made by the ruling political dispensation in the State of West Bengal to create a sense of fear and panic among the electorates such that the electorates do not come out to vote. He has claimed that the goons affiliated to the ruling political dispensation in the State can wreak havoc on the day of the election as well as counting by means of booth capturing and other illegal means.

The plea states that there is reasonable apprehension of violence during the conduct of the upcoming Gram Panchayat Election in the State of West Bengal and hence protective measures ought to be taken to prevent the elections from becoming otiose.