Representatives from the BJP and the CPM on Monday urged the Election Commission to hold the upcoming Assembly elections in Bengal in a single phase or two phases.
Representatives from both the parties informed the full-bench of the poll panel led by chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar regarding their preference of a shorter polling period.
“We have made it very clear that we want elections to be held in one day in all the 294 Assembly constituencies or at the most in two phases,” state BJP leader Shishir Bajoria told the media after the meeting.
“We have seen elections held in seven or eight phases in the past, it does not bring any benefit,” “We are also unhappy with the utilisation of the central armed paramilitary forces.”
CPM state secretary Mohammad Salim also said the party was in favour of single or two-phase elections.
“The same administration, the same goons get time to organise the polls when held in multiple phases. A child was killed during the counting process in the last Lok Sabha polls. Did the returning officers or other poll officials file even one FIR? We want polls in one or two phases,” said Salim.
He said they also wanted to know why the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bengal has turned into what he called an anti-people drive.
“In preparing the electoral roll, why did the commission enrage the people? We asked the full bench,” Salim said. “An election or a voter list cannot proceed by excluding 60 lakh voters.”
Apart from meetings with the representatives of the political parties, the full bench of the commission will also meet poll officials, senior state officials from the administration and the police on Monday and Tuesday.
The Trinamool delegation comprising state ministers Chandrima Bhattacharya, Firhad Hakim and former DGP and now Rajya Sabha nominee Rajeev Kumar expressed their unhappiness.
“We are not at all satisfied,” said Chandrima, alleging the chief election commissioner had shouted at her. “How can he shout at a minister, a woman? That is his mindset.”
The Trinamool leaders would not comment on the demand for a single or two-day polling in the state.
“We are here to raise the demand for the people. We are not concerned with the number of polling days,” said Chandrima.
For over a decade now Bengal has seen polling in multiple phases, which however could not stop either pre or post-poll violence in the state.
The 2014 Lok Sabha polls were held in five phases while during the 2016 Assembly polls the first phase was split into two days, followed by five more phases.
The 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha polls were held in seven phases while in the last Assembly polls held in 2021 the polling days stretched to eight phases, the highest ever.
“We do not mind if the elections are held in a single day or two or three days. We want the elections to be held peacefully. That is what we have told the EC,” said Pradip Bhattacharya, state Congress leader.
