Chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Monday reportedly told police and other law enforcement agencies to treat a review meeting on poll preparedness as a “warning”.
“If the objectives of a free and fair election are fulfilled, it is fine. If not, do not compel us to take action,” an official who attended the meeting quoted Kumar as saying.
Sources said all agencies were instructed to begin working towards a “violence-
free” election immediately, instead of waiting for an official notification.
At the marathon meeting at Westin hotel in New Town, Kumar reacted to protests outside Kalighat temple during his visit earlier in the day, calling it “narrative mongering”.
“The protesters should take their documents and go to the DEO (district election officer) instead of protesting there. What is the point in this narrative mongering?” a source quoted Kumar as saying.
Kumar was greeted with black flags and “Go back” slogans during his temple visit in the morning. At the meeting, officers explained that anti-SIR protests were taking place in many parts of the state.
The full bench of the Election Commission, including Kumar and election commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, addressed senior police officers, including IGs, DIGs, divisional commissioners, commissioner of police, DEOs and superintendents of police. Representatives from other agencies — IT department, RBI, airports authority of India, narcotics department, DRI, among others — were present.
Kumar shared the EC’s “zero tolerance” policy on inducements, including narcotics, and questioned the absence of a narcotics advisory committee in Bengal. Sources said ADG (law and order) Vineet Goyal was reportedly stopped while responding to this.
“The message was loud and clear. The bench wanted the elections to be free, fair and violence-free. Several political parties have complained of ‘chhappa voting’, and the CEC warned against such practices,” an officer said.
Sources quoted Kumar as telling the police: “Log police se kyun nahi darte? Request karne se nahi hoga. Action lena padega.”
Officers were instructed to execute all pending arrest warrants before nominations and ensure “troublemakers” do not disrupt the elections. Agencies were told to monitor inducements: cash over ₹50,000 should be reported to the police, and amounts exceeding ₹10 lakh should be flagged to the IT department.
The police were asked to prevent any “pre-poll, poll and post-poll” violence.
The meeting followed an earlier session with representatives of all political parties at the same venue.
