Kolkata, March 31: 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 West Bengal, there are 3358 gram panchayats with 48,751 seats, 341 panchayat samitis with 9240 seats and 20 zilla parishads with 825 seats. There are around 58,000 booths across the state.  In February, the commission had sought 425 senior IAS and WBCS officers to be deployed as observers for "free and fair" panchayat polls, a demand that had led to face-off with the government in 2013.

As per reports, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is likely to visit Kalimpong in May despite her busy schedule in national politics. As per reports, she has “multiple objectives,” including indirect campaigning for rural polls in north Bengal. As per a report by The Statesman, sources said that the  CM was not able to hold programmes in Kalimpong in February this year, and as a result, she may organise a gala in Kalimpong to promote development and to celebrate the formation of a separate Kalimpong district.

According to a report by Telegraph, a delegation of West bengal BJP leaders held a meeting earlier this week in north Bengal and passed a clear message that the organisation would not leave an inch of space to rivals, particularly Trinamul, in the forthcoming rural polls.

BJP leader Mukul Roy said that the chief minister has said that she wants to see panchayats where there will be no one in the opposition. “But we want to pass a clear message to our party workers and leaders that they should put up all efforts to retain their base at each booth across north Bengal. We will not leave an inch of space to any other party and would retaliate if any coercive attempt is made," Roy said. Also, BJP president Amit Shah is scheduled to visit north Bengal next month.

According to The West Bengal Municipal Act, 1993, Darjeeling municipality is run by the Chairman-in-Council system of governance and consists of the Chairman, the Vice Chairman and five other members of the Board of Councillors.

In the last year, local body polls were held in West Bengal in seven municipal bodies – Darjeeling, Mirik and Kurseong in the hills and Kurseong, Domkol, Rayong and Pujali.  It must be noted that the Darjeeling Municipality is responsible for the civic administration of the town of Darjeeling, West Bengal, India. Established in 1850, it is one of the oldest city administrative bodies in India.

To recall, in 2013, the rural polls were held in five phases following a Supreme Court order. According to the West Bengal Panchayat Elections Act, 2003, the commission and the state government hold discussions and fix the time and phases of the rural polls.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 31, 2018 04:29 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).