Kolkata, March 9 All registered political parties, except the ruling Trinamool Congress, have sought single-phase or at most two-phase polling for the crucial Assembly elections in West Bengal, which are scheduled later this year.
They made this demand during their interaction with the full Bench of the Election Commission of India (ECI), headed by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, earlier on Monday.
The West Bengal unit of the BJP had already issued an official statement detailing the minutes of the discussion between the party delegation and 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 claimed that the party delegation had clearly told the EC that polling in a single or a maximum of two phases within a short time would be much better than the proposed seven to eight-phase polls, which would stretch over six weeks.
The BJP presented a 16-point demand to the ECI’s full Bench on Monday, with single or two-phase polling being the first demand.
Similarly, the delegations of both CPI(M) and Congress, who met the ECI’s Bench earlier on Monday, also 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 emphasized ensuring free and fair elections in the state.
The only exception was the ruling Trinamool Congress, whose delegation 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 appropriate forum to discuss 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.