Longest ballot paper printed for 25 candidates for a seat in Falakata

Alipurduar: Finally, the longest ballot paper for the state’s Panchayat election is being printed. The upcoming Panchayat election will feature a ballot paper measuring 47cmX35cm. This particular ballot is for seat number 12 of the Falakata Panchayat Samiti in the Alipurduar district. The district administration claims that having 25 candidates contesting for a single seat is a record in the entire state.

Initially, after the scrutiny, the issue of 25 candidates vying for one seat became apparent, causing problems for the Falakata block administration. They were faced with the challenge of printing the names of 25 candidates on a single ballot paper for that seat. The Trinamool, BJP, and CPM parties have fielded candidates for that particular Panchayat Samiti seat, while the remaining 22 candidates are running as independent candidates.

Falakata BDO, Supratik Majumder said: “I have never encountered such a situation in my service period, before. There is no printing facility in my district capable of accommodating the names of twenty-five individuals on a ballot paper. We searched extensively, considering options in Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri, and Siliguri, until finally finding a printing press in Alipurduar that agreed to print the longest 47cmX35cm ballot paper. The printing press in Alipurduar has experience in printing ballots, and they will arrange the names of the 25 candidates in a single row on the ballot, ensuring voters don’t have any difficulties in choosing their candidate.”