Kolkata, March 9
Bharatiya Janata Party in West Bengal has requested the Election Commission of India to conduct the polls in a single or maximum two phases in the state, rather than conducting them in seven to eight phases over six weeks.
In a written submission to ECI, they have also demanded that all officers who were transferred by Orders of the ECI in the previous 3 elections -2019 Lok Sabha elections, 2021 Vidhan Sabha elections, 2024 Lok Sabha elections.)
They have also requested the deployment of adequate CAPF personnel well in advance to familiarise themselves with the local area, instead of dependence on the State Police.
"The Nodal Officer of the CAPF should be given strict instructions to ensure the movement of the force and the Force not accepting any hospitality whatsoever from locals, as seen in the previous elections. General and Police Observers should be deployed well in advance to get to know their area and enable an independent assessment. Area domination, confidence-building measures, and route march of the CAPF to be undertaken based on areas identified by the General and Police Observers and not depending on the local police," the BJP requested to ECI in a statement.
The state BJP has requested ECI to ban the West Bengal Police Welfare Organisation and all its offices / operational areas be sealed. "This Organisation is a front outfit of the TMC which issues illegal orders and coerces the police personnel to surrender their ballot papers to these officers," they said.
They have also urged ECI to take certain measures on polling day, like introduce 2 stage identification of voters, one before entering the polling station by the CAPF personnel posted and the other inside by the Presiding / Polling Officer(s).
"Agents of political parties should sit outside the room where the poll is being taken and not inside, as is being done in West Bengal. Every polling station should be under the supervision of CAPF with no presence of State/ City Police or Volunteers or in any other form for any reason whatsoever, including managing the que. Polling officers should be a 50:50 mix of State and Central Government officers. It is to be noted that the Chief Minister has publicly stated that ECI is in power only for a few weeks, whereas she is and will be there," they requested.
"A webcam should be installed to cover every polling station and access to monitor the same should be given to all candidates and or National and State Parties. Any polling station where the Webcam becomes non-functional for any reason, polling should be immediately stopped. If the stoppage is prolonged, repoll be ordered in that polling station," they added.
They further requested ECI to hold counting in District and Sub-Divisional towns with a 50:50 mix of State and Central officers and under the supervision of CAPF, with no presence of State City Police or Volunteers or in any other form for any reason.
Meanwhil TMC delegation met the Election Commission of India officials, including Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, in Kolkata today.
In 2026, assembly elections are scheduled for four states and one union territory in India. The five legislative bodies up for election are West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala, and Puducherry.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) is expected to announce the official schedule soon.
- ANI
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