Calcutta High Court refuses to interfere in Bengal panchayat election process
The Hindu
The Calcutta High Court refused to interfere in the panchayat election process in West Bengal, while holding that there is a substance in petitioner Suvendu Adhikari’s contention over seat reservation criteria used for the upcoming 2023 local body polls.
The Calcutta High Court on March 28 refused to interfere in the panchayat election process in West Bengal, while holding that there is a substance in petitioner Suvendu Adhikari's contention over seat reservation criteria used for the upcoming 2023 local body polls.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice R. Bharadwaj held that any interference at this stage in connection with the PIL filed by Mr. Adhikari, the Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, may lead to postponement of the panchayat elections in the State.
The court refused to interfere in the panchayat polls in West Bengal at this stage while holding that there is a substance in Mr. Adhikari's claim over the use of different criteria for the reservation of seats in various categories.
The court left it to the State Election Commission to take a call on the points raised by the BJP MLA over such reservation of seats.
The panchayat elections in the State are likely to be held by the middle of this year.
In 2021, five women from Mayithara, four of them MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) workers, found a common ground in their desire to create a sustainable livelihood by growing vegetables. Rajamma M., Mary Varkey, Valsala L., Elisho S., and Praseeda Sumesh, aged between 70 and 39, pooled their savings, rented a piece of land and began their collective vegetable farming journey under the Deepam Krishi group.