All the registered political parties, except for the ruling Trinamool Congress, have sought single-phase or at maximum two-phase polling for the crucial Assembly elections in West Bengal scheduled for later this year. They made the demand during their interaction will the full Bench of the Election Commission of India (ECI), headed by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Gyanesh Kumar, earlier in the day on Monday.
The West Bengal unit of the BJP had already made an official statement detailing the minutes of the discussion of the party delegation with the ECI’s full Bench, which is currently on a two-day tour to West Bengal. In the first line of the statement, the BJP had claimed that the party delegation had clearly told the EC that polling in a single or a maximum of two phases in a short time span would be much better than a long drawn seven to eight phases of polls stretching over six weeks.
The BJP had placed a 16-point demand to the ECI’s full Bench on Monday, out of which a single or two-phase polling was the first demand. Similarly, the delegations of both CPI(M) and Congress, who met the ECI’s Bench earlier in the day, too, had pleaded for single or two-phase polling in West Bengal this time.
This was confirmed by the CPI(M) state secretary in West Bengal and the party’s Politburo member, Md Salim, and former Congress Rajya Sabha member, Pradip Bhattacharya, who were members of their respective party delegations meeting the EC earlier in the day.
However, Bhattacharya added that more than the number of phases, the Congress delegation stressed ensuring free and fair polls in the state. The only exception was the ruling Trinamool Congress, whose delegation had refrained from raising the demand for a single or a two-phase poll this time.
When asked about this issue, West Bengal Municipal Affairs & Urban Development Minister and Kolkata Mayor, Firhad Hakim, who was a member of the party delegation, said that the meeting with the ECI’s full Bench was not the place for discussing polling phases.
The Commission had stated that during interactions with different political parties almost all had called for one or two-phase polling in West Bengal this time. They also urged the Commission to take stringent measures to curb the aggression of anti-social elements and ensure that there is no intimidation of voters during the forthcoming elections.