KOLKATA: At a time when there is a buzz over imposition of President's rule in West Bengal, the Election Commission of India (ECI) is expected to announce the dates for the Assembly polls in the state on March 16, a couple of days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the concluding rally of the BJP’s ‘Paribartan Yatra’ at the Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata on March 14.
According to ECI sources, the Assembly polls in Bengal are likely to be held in two phases. The first phase may take place either at the end of the second week or in the third week of April. Apart from Bengal, the Commission may also announce the dates for Assembly elections in four other states—Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Puducherry—on the same day.
Besides the ruling Trinamool Congress in Bengal, most political parties, including the BJP, CPI(M), and Congress, have urged the ECI’s full bench, headed by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, during its two-day visit to the state, to conduct the elections in one phase or at most two phases.
“Conducting Assembly elections in West Bengal in two phases would help check poll-related violence, as miscreants would not get the time to move from one place to another to create disturbances. This factor will also be considered before taking the final call,” an official of the national poll panel said.
Conducting elections in Bengal appears particularly significant this time, especially when the voting rights of more than 60 lakh voters categorized under ‘under adjudication’ status remain in limbo. They are awaiting clearance from judicial officers to retain their voting rights.
So far, only 10 lakh cases out of these 60 lakh voters have been disposed of by judicial officers in the state. Among the 10 lakh disposed cases, the voting rights of around 3.5 to 4 lakh voters have been rejected, it is learnt.
A section of officials in the office of the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (WBCEO), Manoj Agarwal, feel that it would be difficult to clear the cases of the remaining 50 lakh voters after thorough scrutiny of their documents and other details by around 800 judicial officers within the limited time of 20 to 25 days, until the last date for the withdrawal of nominations by contesting candidates in the first phase of the polls.
Requesting anonymity, they said that the issue related to the publication of a supplementary list of voters whose cases are cleared by judicial officers has not yet been finalised by the Commission.
The process may also be further jeopardised if people whose voting rights are rejected by the judicial officers move the tribunal challenging the deletion of their names from the supplementary lists in the coming days.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court to form an appellate tribunal of retired High Court judges where voters who have been excluded from the list following the post-Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state can appeal.
Political observers feel that the situation in Bengal could head towards the imposition of Article 356 in the state if a new government is not formed by the May 7 deadline.
The official said that law and order during the election period remains a major concern for the Election Commission. Senior officials of the West Bengal government have assured the poll body that there will be strict vigilance during the pre-poll and post-poll periods.