Kolkata (West Bengal) [India]: Bharatiya Janata Party will approach the division bench of Calcutta High Court for the deployment of Central forces in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation election, said sources. This comes after a single bench of Calcutta High Court rejected the party’s petition for the same on Thursday. Earlier on Monday, Supreme Court refused to entertain the petition filed by BJP seeking deployment of Central Forces and asked the party to approach Calcutta High Court. During the brief hearing, senior advocate Maninder Singh appearing for the BJP, told the Bench that there were widespread threats of violence and the BJP candidates were being threatened to withdraw from the contest in the municipal elections in Kolkata. BJP approached the apex court seeking direction to the West Bengal government, the state poll panel and other functionaries to prepare a comprehensive action plan and deploy sufficient central police forces to ensure free and fair municipal polls. The petition submitted that after BJP nominated and finalized the candidates for the Kolkata Municipal Corporation elections, have been receiving threats and are being pressurized to withdraw their candidature. These threats and violence “cast grave infractions on the constitutional mandate of conducting free, fair and democratic election,” said the plea. The BJP, in its plea filed by its state president and MP Sukanta Majumdar, said that BJP finalized its candidates after the West Bengal State Election Commission notified the elections to be held for Kolkata Municipal Corporation on Day 19. There was a necessity to deploy Central Forces in light of post-poll violence in West Bengal in May 2021, it added. The petition stated that representations have been filed with the authorities and the Governor seeking deployment of additional forces to ensure a fair and transparent election.
