West Bengal's 5-Phased Panchayat Polls July 11, 15, 19, 22 and 25,2013

For a total of 58,865 seats across 17 Districts where a total of 1.7 Lakh Candidates are contesting in the 5-phase elections

Of the total 58,865 seats going to polls, 6,274 have been won uncontested, a majority by the Trinamool Congress(TMC)

The voting for the first of the controversial five-phased panchayat polls inWest Bengal takes place in 3 Districts - West Midnapore, Purulia and Bankura and nearly 75 lakh voters across three districts will stamp the ballot paper the old-fashioned way to choose representatives to over 10,200 seats

About 48,000 central and state forces having been deployed to ensure smooth voting in 10,038 polling stations

Three persons were killed and the body of another was found during the third phase of the five-phased panchayat polls in West Bengal on Friday July 19,2013 in the 3 districts -Howrah, South 24 Parganas district and North 24 Parganas district

Six persons, including a woman, were killed and 18 injured in violence and CRPF firing in the fourth phase of the West Bengal panchayat elections on Monday July 22,2013 in four districts 

A man was killed on Thursday July 25,2013 in a clash between Trinamool Congress and CPI(M) supporters in North Dinajpur district during the fifth and final phase of West Bengal panchayat elections, taking the toll in poll-related violence to 21 since the exercise began.

Police said Abdul Aziz (50) was stabbed to death during the clash at Borobilla at Itahar when polling was on.With Thursday’s death, the toll in rural poll violence went up to 21 since the polling began in the state on July 11,2013

At least 24 people were killed during the five phased polls which began July 11,2013

Note
The SC on Friday June 28,2013 rescheduled the dates of West Bengal panchayat elections and directed the State Election Commission to conduct the exercise in five phases starting July 11.
A bench of justices A K Patnaik and Ranjan Gogoi directed the election will be held on July 11, 15, 19, 22 and 25. The poll was earlier scheduled to be held in three phases from July 2,6 and 9,2013
The SC directed the state government to provide on an average 35,000 security personnel for each phase of the election and the rest of the requirement of security forces will be provided by the Centre.
The court passed the order on a petition filed by the state election commission which had approached the apex court seeking its direction to the state and the Centre to provide adequate security personnel for the election.

Counting Begins for Bengal Panchayat Polls Monday July 29,2013

Up for grabs are 58,865 seats, for which an impressive 84.56% of the 4.4 crore electorate cast their franchise in five phases - July 11, 15, 19, 22 and 25

There are in all 755 Zilla Parishad (district councils) constituencies spread over 17 Zilla Parishads, 8,864 Panchayat Samity constituencies in 341 Panchayat Samities and 36,016 Gram Panchayat constituencies in 3,354 Gram Panchayats

In the 2008 elections, the Left Frony won 13 zilla parishads, and the Congress and the TMC two eachCounting for the West Bengal panchayat polls began on Monday, 329 counting centres have been set up, which by Monday evening will decide the fate of 1.69 lakh candidates with around 90,000 of them women

Initial trends putting ruling TMC in the lead in most of the districts.Of the total 58,865 seats going to polls, 6,274 have been won uncontested, a majority by the Trinamool Congress.West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress has swept the five-phase panchayat elections, including Left strongholds like Burdwan, Bankura and Purulia

In the 3-tier panchayat system, the zilla parishad is what controls the district. Of the 17 districts that went to the polls, the Trinamool has won zilla parishads in 13 districts, the Left has got one (Jalpaiguri) and the Congress too, has scored one (Murshidabad). Two other districts -- Malda and North Dinajpur -- are hung.

Out of 329 panchayat samitis, Trinamool grabbed 192, the Left, 64 and the Congress 20. Independents and others got 22. Some results are still pending.

In the lowest tier, the gram panchayat, the Trinamool has won 1745 out of 3215 or a whopping 54 per cent.  Its poorest showing was in the Murshidabad (8), Malda (10) and North Dinajpur (10) districts.
But the Trinamool won two north Bengal districts -- Cooch Behar and South Dinajpur -- and even gave a tough fight in Jalpaiguri which was won by the Left.

The results suggest that two and a half years of incumbency and controversies, including the Saradha chit fund scam, have by and large failed to sway the rural people's faith in the Mamata Banerjee government.