The death of Tamanna Khatun in Kaliganj on Monday has prompted the Election Commission (EC) to consider formulating guidelines for holding victory rallies after poll results are out.
“The incident that took the life of an 11-year-old girl can be considered as post-poll violence.... The poll panel is considering the incident as an eye-opener after holding the bypoll in Kaliganj peacefully. Taking a cue from the incident, the EC is contemplating several restrictions on holding victory processions in future,” said a source.
According to sources, the EC might issue a blanket ban on holding victory processions before the winner’s certificate is issued.
“This is important as victory processions during an election in Bengal are spontaneous.... After a certain time, when a party takes the lead, the supporters go out for a victory rally in many areas. But this could be a thing of the past as the poll panel is considering issuing a blanket ban on this,” said an official aware of
the development.
Not only this, the EC could also ask the district officials to be very careful about allowing victory processions.
The DMs and SPs could be asked to ensure that no procession is held without securing permission from the authorities concerned. And the authorities should not give permission to hold victory processions without taking note of the ground situation.
“If there is tension, no procession should be allowed after the campaigns for the elections come to an end, 48 hours before the date of the polls. If processions are allowed in any area, the authorities should lay down a route map and proper security arrangements should be made to ensure that the procession follows the route,” said another official.
Sources said that in Bengal, authorities usually clamp restrictions designated as “sensitive” by the administration. But the authorities usually don’t prevent political parties from holding victory celebrations, which often turn into processions once a party takes a significant lead in a seat.
“The EC has already taken into account the post-poll violence in the state in which about 50 people were killed... The incident at Kaliganj gives a hint that the situation did not change much in the state and the time has come to consider steps to stop the trend ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls,” said a source.
The EC has taken the Kaliganj incident very seriously and asked the district authorities to send a report immediately after the incident.
The report sent by the police superintendent of Krishnagar police district mentioned that around 1pm on Monday, a group of goons held a procession after reports emerged that the TMC candidate took the lead, during which crude bombs were hurled to assert dominance over rival factions. One of the bombs hurled from the procession took the life of Tamanna.