Kolkata, 10 March (H.S.) : Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Tuesday said that the West Bengal Assembly elections scheduled to be held later this year will be conducted in a completely fair and violence-free manner. He assured voters that they would be able to exercise their franchise without any fear or pressure.

Speaking to mediapersons, Kumar said, “I extend my greetings to all my brothers and sisters in West Bengal. The Assembly elections in the state later this year will be completely fair and violence-free. Voters will be able to cast their votes without any fear or pressure.”

On Tuesday morning, the Chief Election Commissioner visited Belur Math in Howrah, the international headquarters of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission founded by Swami Vivekananda. After the visit, the full Bench of the Election Commission is scheduled to hold an important meeting with top bureaucrats and senior police officers of the state government.

The meeting will be attended by Chief Secretary Nandini Chakraborty and acting Director General of Police Peeyush Pandey, among other senior officials. The meeting is scheduled to begin around 10 a.m. It will be followed by a press conference to be addressed by the Chief Election Commissioner. The Commission’s full Bench is expected to return to Delhi later in the day.

Meanwhile, Tuesday is also set to witness another significant development concerning West Bengal, as the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a case related to the Special Intensive Revision of the electoral rolls in the state. The hearing is expected to begin at 3 p.m. before a three-judge Bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi, and Justice Nilay Vipinchandra Anjaria.

At present, the judicial adjudication process related to voters’ documents identified under the revision exercise is underway, with 732 judicial officers involved in the process. This includes 100 officers each from neighbouring states Jharkhand and Odisha. The office of the Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal has estimated that, at the current pace, the entire process is unlikely to be completed before the first week of April.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has announced that her indefinite sit-in protest at Esplanade East in central Kolkata against the Special Intensive Revision exercise will continue on Tuesday. However, Trinamool Congress general secretary and Lok Sabha member Abhishek Banerjee has urged the Chief Minister to withdraw the protest, considering her age and physical condition.

Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh