-The Hindustan Times There would be no Panchayat polls without central forces, the State Election Commission (SEC) made this clear to the Mamata Banerjee administration on Thursday, even though Trinamool leaders and ministers continued to resist the move, saying that, ultimately, law and order is the responsibility of the state government. Senior SEC officials told HT they had opted for the central armed forces since this was a tried and tested method...

-The Indian Express Kolkata: West Bengal's notification for the panchayat elections marks a flash point in an ongoing tussle between the Mamata Banerjee government and the state election commission. The government notification, issued last week independently of the election authorities, has declared polls in two phases, on April 26 and 30. The election commission, headed by Meera Pandey, has been insisting on three phases. On Monday, the commission wrote to the government...

-The Business Standard Defying the Election Committee's suggestion last week, the state announced a two-phase election to be held in April The tug-of-war between the West Bengal government and State Election Commission over Panchayat poll schedule may head for a legal battle, with both sides showing no sign of compromise. After a three-hour long meeting at its office here, the state election commission today refused to accept government-announced panchayat poll dates and sent...

-The Hindu Miscreants opposing Panchayat polls torch houses, schools; ethnic clashes trigger exodus Guwahati: At least 12 persons including three women were killed — 10 persons in police firing and two in ethnic clashes between Rabha and non-Rabha groups in Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council (RHAC) areas in southern Assam’s Goalpara district on Tuesday. The clashes have triggered huge exodus of people from the affected and nearby villages. Fleeing villagers have taken shelter in...

-The Telegraph A baby girl in need of a brain scan has been turned away by every government hospital she has visited in six months because her unemployed single mother doesn't have a BPL card or the money for an MRI. Jhuma Majhi's daughter Brishti, a year and nine months old, was recommended an MRI of the brain last August after falling off a bed and suffering convulsions that have since become...