After liquor and bikes, the Election Commission has turned its attention to Bengal’s tourist places.

The Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal has issued a directive calling tourists and non-residents to exit the state’s popular coastal destinations in Purba Medinipur district, including Digha, Mandarmani, Tajpur, Sankharpur, and Udaipur, according to reports.

The order, which comes ahead of voting day on April 23, mandates that hotels ensure no rooms are occupied by non-locals from 6 pm on Tuesday until polling concludes for the first phase.

Local media outlets reported that a senior official in the CEO’s office said the decision to ask even genuine tourists to leave stems from concerns that outsiders could enter the district posing as visitors and trigger disturbances during polling.

Along with the deployment of over 2.4 lakh personnel for Phase 1 of the Bengal Assembly elections on April 23, the bar on tourism in Bengal seems first of its kind to address security concerns during an election.

Earlier, the poll body invoked a 117-year-old colonial-era law to impose an unprecedented 198-hour ban on the sale and serving of liquor across Kolkata and other districts going to the polls in the second phase on April 29, effective from late Monday afternoon.

Adding to the list of utilities getting axed, motorcycles will not be allowed on roads between 6 pm and 6 am starting two days before polling on Phase 1 and 2. Pillion riding will be prohibited even during the 6 am to 6 pm relaxation window, except for medical emergencies, family functions, or dropping and picking up children from school.