Kolkata, March 5 (UNI) The Election Commission of India (ECI) has conveyed its concern to the office of the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer over the pace of election preparations in two districts bordering Bangladesh — South 24 Parganas and Cooch Behar — ahead of the Assembly polls in the state.
According to sources in the office of the Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal, the poll panel recently reviewed the progress of preparatory work across districts and found the situation in the two border districts to be unsatisfactory.
The assessment followed a virtual review meeting held last week by senior officials of the Election Commission at its New Delhi headquarters with electoral officials, senior bureaucrats, and police officers from West Bengal.
During the interaction, district-level authorities provided updates on the status of election readiness in their respective jurisdictions.
After analysing the inputs, the Commission reportedly detected shortcomings in the pace of preparations in certain areas.
On Wednesday night, despite the Holi holiday, Deputy Election Commissioner Gyanesh Bharati held another brief virtual meeting with state election officials, including district magistrates who also function as district electoral officers.
Sources in the Commission said that during the meeting, Bharati expressed dissatisfaction with the progress reported from South 24 Parganas and Cooch Behar, urging officials to accelerate the pace of work.
“Bharati is expected to hold another round of virtual discussions with electoral officers on Thursday to outline measures required to speed up the poll-preparedness process before the Election Commission’s full bench arrives in the state,” an official in the CEO office said.
As per the tentative itinerary, the full bench of the Election Commission is scheduled to reach West Bengal on the night of March 8.
On March 9 and 10, the Commission is expected to hold a series of extensive meetings with state officials to assess overall election preparedness and review the ongoing judicial adjudication of voter documents flagged under the “logical discrepancy” category.
Meanwhile, political activity around the voter list intensified in Kolkata. Leaders and workers of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) began a night-long sit-in outside the CEO’s office in central Kolkata late on Wednesday.
The protest was organised to demand that the Election Commission refrain from announcing the Assembly poll schedule until the judicial adjudication process related to disputed voter documents is completed and the names of all legitimate voters are restored to the electoral roll.
The demonstration continued on Thursday morning, with CPI(M) leaders stating that their agitation would persist until they are granted a meeting with the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer, Manoj Kumar Agarwal.
The final electoral roll for the state was published on February 28, excluding names that have been referred for judicial adjudication. Election authorities have indicated that supplementary voter lists will be released periodically depending on the outcome and progress of the adjudication process.
