Bhopal: The three-member panel constituted by principal bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court in Jabalpur has not received the charge by interim committee of Bhopal Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Rohit P Shroti, a member of the panel, told Free Press on Wednesday.
The elections have been postponed several times amid the conflict between two panels of chamber- one led by president Mukesh Sen and the other by secretary Lalit Jain.
A petition challenging the elections was filed in High Court that led to court constituting a committee of three advocates - Rohit Shroti, Aakash Telang and Anshul Aggrawal.
Soon after, Mukesh Sen announced elections on November 14. The opposing party led by Lalit Jain declared to boycott the elections with two other panels, claiming that since Sen was no longer the election officer, he had no right to announce dates.
Shroti said, “We are concerned with nothing but holding peaceful elections that will bear results. But, even after more than 18 days, we have not been given the charge by the chamber.”
“We have written a letter to secretary of chamber today (Wednesday) to hand over the charge within 12 hours. We have called a meeting to discuss the next steps,” he said.
On being asked about the proposed date, Shroti said, “Half the elections have already been held. Now, if we are satisfied by the preparations done by the president-led party, we may go ahead with it.”
“Since the administration and police are going to be busy in security arrangements for Prime Minister’s visit on November 15, we may reconsider the dates and postpone the elections,” he added.
Jain, on the other hand, has refused to agree to date proposed by Sen. “He is not holding any position in the chamber. So, he has no right to announce the dates. We will go with only what the panel constituted by High Court will say,” he said. “Polls on November 14 are not possible due to PM’s visit,” he added.
Sen, talking about preparations of elections, said, “We are done with the preparations. We have the venue permission and all the arrangements done to ease the poll process. Now, only casting and counting of votes are left. Polling will be held from 8 am to 4 pm.”
