The Election Commission has initiated a series of measures — many of which will be implemented for the first time in Bengal — to ensure a free and fair by-election to the Kaliganj Assembly segment in Nadia district on Thursday.
The initiatives — most of which are mentioned in the poll panel’s rulebook and some implemented following Supreme Court orders — showed that the EC was treating the Kaliganj bypoll as a “pilot project” to “plug the loopholes” in the election process ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls in Bengal.
“All these initiatives are being implemented in the bypolls to five Assembly segments spread across the country. But these have drawn attention in Bengal as complaints of irregularities during elections have become a regular feature here,” said a senior state government official.
The Telegraph looks at the poll panel’s initiatives for the Kaliganj by-election.
CCTV cameras: The EC has installed sophisticated CCTV cameras with a 360-degree view in each booth to capture the proceedings during the voting. In previous polls, a fixed CCTV camera was installed for webcasting, and the EC could not monitor happenings inside booths as those did not cover the entire space. With the CCTV cameras which can rotate 360 degrees, there will be no shadow zone inside the booth. Any kind of intimidation of voters or polling officers, or proxy voting would not go unnoticed.
The EC has also installed CCTV cameras outside the booths for the first time. These cameras will help polling officials see if the voters are being intimidated as they wait in the queues or whether original voters are being forced to return without voting.
CCTV cameras will also be installed on vehicles of quick response teams and flying squads for the first time. This will help the authorities monitor the movement and workings of these teams. This has been done to counter complaints that these teams did not react in time to charges like intimidation of voters.
Cellphones: Inside the booth, only the presiding officer will be allowed to keep a mobile phone. Earlier, all five polling officers were allowed to keep mobile phones inside the booth. Although not allowed as per the rulebook, there were complaints that agents of political parties also used to carry phones with them inside the booth. The step, sources said, would help ensure that no information from inside the booth would go outside, and unwarranted interventions by political parties could be avoided.
Central forces: The poll panel has given more authority to the central forces in this bypoll. The central forces will be able to intervene if any trouble breaks inside
the booth.
Earlier, the central forces could enter the booth only if the presiding officers asked them to. “Now, the central forces will be able to intervene if they feel that the polling process is being vitiated inside the booth. Maintaining the sanctity of the booths — right from the time polling officers reach the booth to the completion of the election process — is the responsibility of the central forces,” said a bureaucrat aware of the development.
Dead and shifted voters: The EC has identified 945 dead and shifted voters in the electoral rolls of the Kaliganj Assembly segment. Their names were not deleted during the special summary roll revision in April.
“During the special roll revision, the names of about 7,000 dead and shifted voters were deleted. But 945 names remained in the rolls because of the lackadaisical approach of some booth-level officers. Now, the poll panel will keep a watch on whether any of these voters turn up. If they turn up, they will have to fill up a requisite form and establish their identity first before they are allowed to enter the booth,” said a source.
Earlier, there were complaints that political parties used the names of the dead and shifted voters to cast proxy votes.
Limited entry: Only four voters would be allowed inside the booth at a time. It was often noticed that many voters were allowed inside booths at a time. This often created chaos, and voters did not feel comfortable exercising their franchise in the presence of so many people in the booth. Sources said that political parties used to send their cadres inside the booth posing as electors to track voters.
Explaining the reasons for those initiatives, an EC official said the measures would bring transparency to the polling process.
“The EC is serious about complaints that had emerged during past elections in Bengal.... Most of these measures were written in the rulebook but never applied. It remains to be seen whether these can plug the loopholes,” the EC official added.
Trinamool complaints
The Trinamool Congress on Wednesday wrote a letter to the chief election Commissioner of India, raising concerns over the selection of the agency that installed infrastructure for webcasting at booths in Kaliganj.
In her letter, TMC vice-president and minister Chandrima Bhattacharya wrote that although the agency from Gujarat’s Ahmedabad had quoted a higher financial bid compared to others, the contract was awarded to it on the basis of a technical evaluation process that seemed to favour a predetermined outcome.
Minister Firhad Hakim raised the issue during the Zero Hour in the Assembly.
Sources on the poll panel said the agency selected for the job had required technical expertise to install sophisticated CCTV cameras, which fulfilled the EC requirement.