New Delhi, Feb. 11: Trinamul Congress leader Mamata Banerjee today urged the Election Commission to take steps to ensure free and fair polls in “sensitive” Bengal as it had done in Jammu and Kashmir.

A Trinamul delegation of Mamata, Calcutta mayor Subrata Mukherjee, party general secretary Mukul Roy and senior leaders Pankaj Banerjee, Sougata Roy and Shobhandeb Chattopadhyay called on the commission to apprise it of the “grave situation” in the state.

Talking to reporters outside the poll panel office, Mamata accused the state administration of being “one-sided” and the ruling CPM of “high-handedness”.

Asked if she would renominate Sudip Bandopadhyay from Calcutta north-west, Mamata shot back: “Why are you after one single individual?” She refused to say anything further on the matter.

“If the commission can ensure free and fair elections in Jammu and Kashmir, it can do so in West Bengal, too,” the Union minister for coal and mines said, adding that the poll panel has promised to take all necessary steps.

During polls in the Valley, then chief election commissioner J.M. Lyngdoh’s efforts had earned him the Magsaysay award.

Asked which areas in the state required special attention, Mamata said: “The entire West Bengal is sensitive.” She pointed out past instances when the ruling party had polled “120 per cent” votes while others secured zero per cent. She alleged that the CPM “had not allowed people to cast their votes or contest elections.