Opposition parties hail Calcutta HC order, slams TMC

Kolkata: The order by the division bench of the Calcutta high court on the panchayat elections has come as a shot in the arm of the opposition parties which tore into the Trinamul Congress over its legal battle which turned out to be an exercise in futility.

State BJP president Dilip Ghosh said, “We welcome the court’s order. Our path is correct. What the court has said will happen. We have faith in the judiciary.”

He claimed, “We will wait for the ruling on Tuesday. The court repeatedly asked Trinamul MP and party’s lawyer Kalyan Banerjee why they did not move to the single bench. They did not move the single bench because they knew they would suffer a loss of face had they moved. That is why Mr Banerjee was telling incorrect things in public to save themselves. We are now waiting for a solution on Tuesday.”

BJP leader Mukul Roy who was present at the high court said, “This is the people’s victory. The respect towards the Indian Constitution has increased only with this order. I am indebted to the media which showed the state of affairs in West Bengal. The Trinamul is killing democracy by misusing the police and administration on the pretext of polls. It happens in no other states in the country.”

He claimed, “Like the CPI(M) had to leave the power due to its misrule of over three decades in West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee also have to leave the power in between 2018 and 2021.”

CPI(M) leader Rabin Deb who was also at the court said, “We never wanted the polls be postponed. But the Trinamul exercised pressure on the state poll panel to withdraw its own order of extension of the deadline for filing nominations.”

Before the division bench’s order, Trinamul secretary general Partha Chatterjee accused the opposition parties of trying to postpone the polls.