In an interesting development on Monday, the Supreme Court ordered for the deployment of central forces for the upcoming election of Contai Co-Operative Bank. The order comes a day after a Trinamool Congress (TMC) worker was allegedly murdered in the aftermath of another co-operative bank election.
Lok Sabha and Assembly elections are typically conducted under the supervision of central security forces. But to have the vote of a co-operative bank with central security is rare.
The election to 108 seats of Contai Co-Operative Bank is scheduled for December 15, with 430 candidates in the fray. Initially, three schools in Purba Medinipur’s Contai town were designated as polling stations. However, due to ongoing exams, polling stations were relocated, and the number was increased from three to five.
This last-minute change was challenged at the Supreme Court by the former chairman of Purba Medinipur’s Egra Municipality, Shankar Bera.
Hearing the matter on Monday, the apex court ordered the state government and the West Bengal Co-operative Election Commission to ensure proper transportation arrangements to the new polling stations on the election day.
Additionally, the court ordered for the deployment of central forces to ensure a fair and transparent election process. Furthermore, each booth should be equipped with CCTV cameras for monitoring, the top court said.
On Sunday, elections of the Tamluk Co-Operative Agriculture and Rural Development Bank witnessed violence as bombs were hurled and a TMC worker was allegedly stabbed to death.
Voting took place for 69 seats in 12 branches of the bank, including in Haldia, Sutahata, Mahishadal, Maina, Tamluk, and Chandipur. The Trinamool secured victory in 56 of these seats, gaining the majority needed to establish the board.
In Nandigram Blocks 1 and 2, the BJP secured 13 seats. In Block 1, during the celebration, the TMC alleged, a group of BJP-backed miscreants attacked local resident and party worker Bishnupada Mondal.
