KOLKATA: The full bench of the Election Commission of India (ECI), headed by the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, on Monday held meetings separately with main political parties at a private hotel in New Town to hear their concerns and suggestions in connection with holding the elections in 294 assembly constituencies in the state of West Bengal.
The ruling Trinamool Congress and CPI-M have expressed their concerns with ‘unbearable’ harassment faced by common citizens during the Special Intensive Revisions (SIR) hearings.
They also expressed concern in categorising more than 60 lakh voters in ‘under adjudication’ status, urging the full bench comprising Kumar and two other commissioners, SS Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, not to conduct elections without proper voters' lists with genuine electors.
The main opposition BJP remained silent on the SIR issue but demanded that the full bench conduct elections in a violence-free, peaceful environment.
Almost all the political parties, including Congress today, demanded the ECI hold elections in the state in one or two phases.
Elections were held in more than eight phases in the last assembly polls in 2021 in the state, while it was in seven phases in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. But Trinamool Congress did not clearly mention anything about the number of phases.
A three-member delegations comprising two ministers Firhad Hakim and Chandrima Bhattacharya, and Rajeev Kumar, retired director general of police, who has been nominated by the ruling party for Rajya Sabha elections from Bengal met the full bench of the ECI expressed serious concern over lakhs of voters who have been removed from the final electoral rolls and others in lakhs belonging to logical discrepancies are still waiting with uncertainty and confusions for their voting rights.
Chandrima while speaking to reporters after the meeting with the Commission, alleged, “The CEC didn’t want to hear our objections. He told me ‘shut up’ when I wanted to convey our grievances about the deletion of voters and another 60 lakh adjudicated electors.”
The BJP delegation team, comprising leaders like Jagannath Chattopadhyay, Sisir Bajoria and others, submitted a 16-point charter of demands to the full bench of Kumar, two other Election Commissioners, SS Sandhu and Vivek Joshi today, highlighting security concerns ahead of the upcoming polls in the state.
The state is expected to see the crucial polls against the backdrop of the Special Intensive Revisions (SIR) of electoral rolls, deleting around 64 lakh voters from the list and landing another pool of 60 lakhs in the ‘under adjudication’ category.
BJP members said that they have demanded that the CEC and ECs conduct elections in the state in three phases. “We demanded a one, two or three-phase election in the state. We have also expressed our concern with the proper use and active deployment of 400 companies of the Central forces already deployed in the state,” they told the reporters after the meeting.
The confidence-building measures in various areas were failed to build up confidence among voters because the state police were controlling movements of the Central forces, they alleged.
“The Commission must ensure peaceful environment so that voters can cast votes without fear and terror. Root marches of the Central forces are being conducted in relatively peaceful areas, instead of sensitive places,” Bajoria alleged.
On the other hand, CPIM delegation led by Md Salim, party secretary in Bengal, also met the full bench of the national poll panel today and submitted their charter of demands to them.
Expressing serious grievances in connection with categorization of 60 lakh voters as ‘under adjudication’, whose voting rights are awaiting clearance of the judicial officers, Salim told reporters after the meeting with Kumar and two ECs, “Why did the Commission make people enemies in the name of making electoral rolls? Thus, the national poll body announced a war against the people. Election Commission is now a ‘nirjatan’ (torture) commission.”
The CPI-M also demanded that the ECI can’t conduct elections without the 60 lakh voters. “It’s a political conspiracy to land the fate of such a huge number of voters in uncertainty and confusion ahead of polls. We have wanted to know from the full bench about what steps they have taken to ensure violence-free and fair elections,” the CPI-M state secretary.
“We have also demanded that they hold elections in one or two phases in Bengal,” the CPI-M state secretary added.
“Every deleted voter must be provided with a specific, written reason for deletion and a clear, accessible way out for making a fresh appeal,” he added. CPI-M Sameek Lahiri was also there in the delegation team of three members. The full bench assured the political parties to look into their demands and grievances.
The ECI full bench arrived in Kolkata on Sunday night amid ‘go back’ slogan protest made by the CPI-M and ruling Trinamool Congress workers. Today, a group of protestors also showed black flags to the CEC when he went to the Kalighat temple to offer prayers earlier in the day.