Mamata Banerjee government is planning for early panchayat elections next year. Though the polls are due in July 2018, but Banerjee plans the elections by next winter. The reason given behind this decision is that, it has been taken for the benefit of the electors. They will need not have to stand in long ques in the scorching sun and this will also encourage more electors to come to polling stations and cast their votes in a comfortable and pleasant weather, an official said.
The government also plans to give more powers to elected rural bodies and a special session of the state assembly to pass the GST bill may also take up a bill to amend the panchayat act for this purpose.
Panchayat minister Subrata Mukherjee in his statement to ET said that his department was at the time being only focusing on completing all pending schemes and that the department is ready to face the polls anytime.
These panchayat elections also hold crucial importance as they come just ahead of the 2019 parliamentary polls. The state comprises of total population of 9.13 crore and about 50% of the population is expected to cast their votes. The results of the polls will help parties to assess their strength and weakness in rural Bengal before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
A senior CPM leader has expressed concern about Mamata’s decision of early panchayat polls, saying that the party might face some difficulties in running campaigns in case Party Congress and panchayat elections take place within a gap of one or two months.