The Calcutta High Court on Thursday directed the central armed forces to remain in state for 10 days after the results for the panchayat polls are declared on 11 July.

“There had been instances of post-poll violence in West Bengal before. So in order to ensure the safety of the public and the elected representatives, the central forces will remain deployed in the state for 10 days after the counting day,” noted the Division Bench of Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya. Priyanka Tibrewal of BJP’s legal cell said, “In order to boost the confidence of the people of Bengal who have already lost their faith in the government and the police administration, this was needed.

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The ruling on the stay of central forces was needed to regain the faith of the people. We have seen that after the declaration of results of Assembly polls in 2021, there was mayhem, killing and arson all over Bengal.” BJP’s legal cellmember Lokenath Chatterjee said that the court has taken cognizance of the human rights violation after 2021 Asembly poll results and this was needed to avoid similar sitaution. Meanwhile, on the petition filed by leader of opposition Suvendu Adhikari against the launch of state government’s mass outreach programme ‘Sorasori Mukhyomontri’ (directly Chief Minister) for violation of Model Code of Conduct (MCC), the bench cautioned the State Election Commission to be more careful in such matters.

Through this programme, the common people can directly convey their grievances to chief minister Mamata Banerjee. Adhikari alleged that the phone number used for the outreach programme is the same that was used in a similar scheme introduced before the 2021 Assembly polls called ‘Didike Bolo’ (Tell Didi), which was basically a political initiative. The SEC counsel, Kishore Dutta informed the court that the number in question had been withdrawn on 15 June. Thereafter, the Bench settled the matter but only after cautioning the commission.