The government of Bengal chief minister Siddhartha Shankar Ray was dismissed on April 30, 1977 and the state remained under President’s rule for the next 52 days till the Left Front government was sworn-in.

Forty-nine years later, when the state is heading for another Assembly polls, a big question has emerged, looming large: is Bengal headed for President’s rule?

Chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar was not asked on Tuesday whether that would be the case. Neither did he utter the P-word in his 68-minute interaction with the media in Calcutta.

But a lot would depend on what the CEC reports to the Centre on his return to Delhi after spending two-days in Calcutta meeting state officials and top cops, visiting temples and being greeted with black flags and “go-back” slogans.

“The entire state administration headed by the chief secretary, the district magistrates, the director general of police, the superintendents of police and others have assured the elections will be violence-free and without intimidation,” Kumar said in reply to a question.

He underlined that making the Bengal polls violence-free – a task that has proved impossible to achieve – was the commission’s priority.

The question about violence is pertinent when talking about President's rule, as it is linked to law and order in a particular state or Union Territory.

Article 356 of the Indian Constitution states that the President can dismiss the government and assume the functioning of the administration on receiving a report from the state’s governor that satisfies the President that a situation has arisen in which the state government cannot carry on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.

Mamata Banerjee had repeatedly demanded President's rule in Bengal while the Left Front was in power and the [present chief minister was the main leader of the Opposition.

Right now the single-most important task being carried out in the state is the special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls. The final rolls have been published with 6.44 crore electors. Judicial officers appointed on the instructions of the Supreme Court are to decide the fate of another 60-plus lakh names.

On Tuesday morning, while the full bench of the central poll panel was meeting with the state chief secretary, home secretary and director-general of police, the apex court instructed both the state government and the commission to extend full support to the judicial officers appointed on the instructions of the SC to complete the verification of the 60lakh voters marked for “adjudication.”

The Supreme Court also rapped some petitioners who had approached with SIR related pleas.

The chief justice of Calcutta High Court has informed the apex court that 10.16 lakh names in the adjudicated list have been dealt with so far. According to sources in the commission, the entire exercise may take over two months to be completed.

The term of the current Bengal Assembly is till May 7.

“The way the entire [SIR] exercise is being carried out it is quite possible that the BJP is looking at the President’s rule route,” a Trinamool MP who requested anonymity told The Telegraph Online.

“If the commission so desired it could have expedited the process of verification for those marked adjudicated. This delay is intentional. Symptoms gulo bhalo lagchhe na (the symptoms don’t seem good).

“We are not apprehensive but there is room for suspicion,” the MP added.

Among the other opposition parties, the CPM has told the Election Commission that elections cannot be held in the state with the fate of 60-lakh plus voters in limbo.

In the last few days, when chief minister Mamata Banerjee has been occupied with her protest against the SIR exercise, occupying a large part of central Calcutta on a makeshift dais, the Centre quietly moved out C.V. Ananda Bose from Lok Bhawan and announced R.N. Ravi as the governor of Bengal.

During his tenure in Chennai, Ravi had a series of conflicts with the DMK government. As the dates for the elections approach, what role Ravi and the Lok Bhawan will play is anybody’s guess.

“In principle, the BJP is against the dismissal of any elected government by the use of Article 356,” Samik Bhattacharya, Bengal BJP president and Rajya Sabha MP, told The Telegraph Online.

“But the people of Bengal want the Mamata Banerjee government to be dismissed,” he added.