West Bengal panchayat polls: State Election Commission scraps extended deadline for filing nomination

Kolkata: The West Bengal Election Commission (SEC) on Tuesday withdrew the extended deadline for filing nominations for the May’s panchayat election in the state. State Election Commissioner AK Singh cancelled the poll panel’s earlier order extending the deadline, the commission sources said. “It appears that there was no specific direction by the Supreme Court of India for extension of the nomination date. Therefore on perusal of all the papers and considering all the points, the Commission hereby recalls the said order and therefore rescinds the (previous) order,” said the new notification issued by the SEC. [caption id=“attachment_4391631” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AP[/caption] Though the last day for filing nominations for the rural polls slated for 1, 3 and 5 May was till Monday, the SEC had extended it till 3 pm on Tuesday on complaints that the opposition candidates had been prevented from filing papers. According to the new notification, the State Election Commissioner received two letters, one from the special secretary of the state government and another one from the Trinamool Congress, citing legal infirmities in the previous order of the commission.