Kolkata, April 12: In a major development, the Calcutta High Court on Thursday directs the Election Commission to file a factual report in the court in connection with West Bengal Panchayat elections 2018. According to a tweet by ANI, the Court said until then all election procedures should be stopped including nomination withdrawal and scrutiny till April 16, 2018.

The polls in the state, scheduled to take place in May will witness a triangular contest between Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC), BJP, CPI(M) and Congress.  The Panchayat general elections 2018 in 20 districts of West Bengal is scheduled to take place in three phases in May 2018. The elections in 20 districts across the state will be held on May 1, May 3 and May 5.  It must be noted that the counting of votes of all the 20 districts will take place on May 8, 2018.

In wake of the disruptions and violence that few candidates faced while filing their nominations, the West Bengal State Election Commission (WBSEC) on Monday had extended the deadline for filing nominations for West Bengal panchayat elections till 3 pm on Tuesday.  “Some political parties wanted to submit nomination papers today at the office of the state election commission, which cannot be done as per law,” the WBSEC said.

On Tuesday, the West Bengal State Election Commission (WBSEC) on recalled the order citing “legal” complexities and after receiving letters from the government and TMC leader Kalyan Banerjee. This comes a day after extending the last date to file nominations for the panchayat elections in May.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 12, 2018 01:06 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).