Kolkata, April 9: The West Bengal Election Commission has extended the deadline to file nominations for the panchayat elections to be held in 23 districts across the state next month.

The move comes amid the gondaism charge levelled against the ruling Trinamool Congress by the CPI(M), BJP and Congress. The three main Opposition parties accused the Mamata Banerjee government of "murdering democracy" in the state by "rigging polls all across".

Senior CPI(M) leader Rabin Deb said the arm-twisting tactics of the TMC will allow it to wrest several panchayat samiti seats without even a contest. Before the polls, several candidates in the fray will be threatened to back away from the electoral race, he added.

His statement came after the TMC was declared winner unopposed in Birbhum zilla parishad, where no Opposition candidate barring one from BJP filed their nominations. The sole BJP candidate in fray would be contesting from the Rajnagar seat.

The BJP and Congress had petitioned the Supreme Court seeking the deployment of central forces in the state for the conduct of panchayat polls. The apex court, while turning down their plea, asked the State Election Commission to ensure adequate steps are taken to conduct "free and fair" panchayat polls.

The panchayat polls in West Bengal are slated to be held in three phases on May 1, 3 and 5 respectively. A total of 825 seats across 20 zilla parishads, 9,217 seats in 341 panchayat samitis and 48,650 seats in 3,358 gram panchayats will be contested. The counting of votes is scheduled on May 12.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 09, 2018 11:05 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).