Kolkata, 09 March (H.S.): Representatives of several political parties on Monday demanded that the upcoming West Bengal Assembly elections be conducted in a single phase during a meeting with the full bench of the Election Commission in Kolkata.

The meeting, chaired by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, was attended by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.

Discussions during the meeting focused on election preparedness, security arrangements and issues related to the electoral rolls ahead of the assembly polls in the state.

A delegation of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) demanded that the elections be conducted in a single phase. Party state secretary Mohammed Salim said that if a single-phase election was not possible, the polling should be held in a maximum of two phases.

Salim also expressed concerns over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls and said the commission should clarify why common voters were allegedly being inconvenienced during the process.

Representatives of the Bharatiya Janata Party said the issue of SIR was not discussed at the meeting as the matter was currently under consideration before the Supreme Court.

BJP leader Jagannath Chattopadhyay said the discussion mainly focused on ensuring a proper election atmosphere and arrangements for polling.

Another BJP leader Tapas Roy said the party urged the commission to ensure free, fair and violence-free elections in the state.

Party representative Shishir Bajoria also raised concerns about the role of the state police and demanded deployment of central forces at every polling booth. He further called for installation of web cameras at all booths and strict identity verification of voters before entering polling stations.

During the meeting, BJP leaders also raised the issue of a controversial remark allegedly made by Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee against the chief election commissioner and demanded that an FIR be registered in the matter.

The delegation of the ruling All India Trinamool Congress included state ministers Firhad Hakim and Chandrima Bhattacharya, along with former state director general of police Rajeev Kumar.

Leaders of the Indian National Congress, including Ashutosh Chattopadhyay and Pradip Bhattacharya, also attended the meeting.

The full bench of the Election Commission arrived in Kolkata on Sunday night and is scheduled to hold further discussions with senior officials of the state administration later in the day.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Priyanka Pandey