Kolkata, 09 March (H.S.) : The full bench of the Election Commission of India on Monday held a meeting with representatives of various political parties and the West Bengal administration to review preparations for the upcoming elections. Issues related to security arrangements, the electoral environment and the voters’ list were discussed during the meeting.

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

After the meeting, the delegation of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) demanded that the elections be conducted in a single phase. The party’s West Bengal state secretary Mohammed Salim said that if a single-phase election was not possible, the polling should be completed in a maximum of two phases. He also expressed dissatisfaction over the special intensive revision of the electoral rolls, stating that the Commission should clarify why ordinary voters were being inconvenienced during the process.

Representatives of the Bharatiya Janata Party said the issue of the special revision of electoral rolls was not discussed in detail during the meeting as the matter is currently pending before the Supreme Court of India. Party leader Jagannath Chattopadhyay said the discussions mainly focused on the overall election atmosphere and administrative arrangements.

Another BJP leader Tapas Roy said the party urged the Commission to ensure free, fair and democratic elections in the state. Meanwhile, BJP representative Shishir Bajoria expressed dissatisfaction with the role of the state police and demanded deployment of central forces at every polling booth.

He also suggested installing web cameras at all polling stations and called for suspension of polling or re-polling in case the cameras malfunction. Bajoria further demanded strict identity verification before voters enter polling stations.

During the meeting, BJP representatives also raised the issue of a controversial remark made by Kalyan Banerjee, in which he allegedly threatened to “cut off the finger” of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The party urged the Commission to register a formal complaint in the matter.

The delegation of the All India Trinamool Congress included state ministers Firhad Hakim, Chandrima Bhattacharya, and former state Director General of Police Rajeev Kumar.

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

The Election Commission’s full bench arrived in Kolkata on Sunday night as part of its three-day visit to the state. Meetings with political parties were scheduled on Monday, followed by discussions with senior officials of the state administration.

Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh