Concerns Rise Over Poll Preparations in West Bengal's Border Districts Ahead of Assembly Elections

Poll Preparations Under Scrutiny

Kolkata: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has reported that the preparations for the upcoming Assembly elections in two districts bordering Bangladesh in West Bengal are not meeting expectations.

The districts in question are South 24 Parganas, located in South Bengal, and Cooch Behar in North Bengal.

According to sources from the Chief Electoral Officer's (CEO) office, a virtual meeting was held last week involving ECI officials from New Delhi, district electoral officers, and senior state bureaucrats and police to assess the readiness for the elections.

Following the review of the feedback received, the ECI pinpointed several shortcomings in the election preparations. Despite Wednesday being a holiday for the Holi festival, Deputy Election Commissioner Gyanesh Bharati conducted a brief virtual meeting with West Bengal's electoral officers, including district magistrates who also serve as district electoral officers. During this meeting, Bharati expressed his concerns regarding the slow progress in South 24 Parganas and Cooch Behar.

Bharati is expected to hold another virtual meeting with the electoral officers on Thursday, where he will outline necessary actions to accelerate the election preparation process.

The full ECI team is scheduled to arrive in West Bengal on the night of March 8. They will engage in extensive meetings on March 9 and 10 to review the ongoing judicial adjudication of voter documents categorized under logical discrepancies, as well as the overall election preparations.

In a related development, CPI(M) leaders and supporters have been staging a sit-in protest outside the CEO's office in central Kolkata since late Wednesday evening. They are demanding that the ECI refrain from announcing polling dates in West Bengal until the judicial adjudication process is completed and the names of all legitimate voters are retained in the electoral list.

The protest continued into Thursday morning, with CPI(M) leaders stating that they will maintain their demonstration until they have a meeting with West Bengal's CEO, Manoj Kumar Agarwal.

The final voter list was published on February 28, excluding names that are currently under judicial review. Supplementary lists will be released as the adjudication process progresses.