‘Zero tolerance for violence’: CEC assures free & fair Bengal polls

Kolkata: Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar on Monday assured political parties that the Election Commission of India (ECI) would ensure an impartial, transparent, free and fair election in West Bengal.

He said the Commission would have “zero tolerance for violence and intimidation of electors or election staff”.

According to sources, Kumar also reviewed the progress of cases under adjudication by judicial officers in the state soon after his arrival in the city on Sunday night. Till Monday, about 10 lakh cases out of a total 60.06 lakh had been disposed of, sources in the office of the chief electoral officer (CEO), West Bengal, said.

Sources said the state CEO’s office placed a proposal before the ECI’s full bench on whether the Commission could proceed with the publication of a supplementary electoral roll based on the number of disposals from the 60.06 lakh cases currently under adjudication. Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee had on Friday written to the CEC and the Bengal CEO seeking publication of supplementary electoral rolls reflecting the status of SIR adjudication cases on a day-to-day basis.

“The Hon’ble Supreme Court has directed that the supplementary electoral rolls incorporating the outcomes of adjudication must be published on a daily basis so as to ensure transparency and enable voters and stakeholders to remain informed of the status of claims and objections. These supplementary rolls are required to reflect the outcomes of adjudications undertaken by the competent judicial authorities dealing with claims, objections, and discrepancies relating to the inclusion or exclusion of electors,” Banerjee wrote.

At the meeting, Kumar informed that Forms 6, 7 and 8 could still be submitted for inclusion of new voters, deletion of names or correction of details in the electoral rolls.

According to a press statement, the full bench directed heads and nodal officers of enforcement agencies to act with complete impartiality and clamp down firmly on inducement-related activities. District electoral officers were also asked to ensure assured minimum facilities at polling stations, including ramps, wheelchairs and drinking water for voters.The Press statement added that representatives of political parties assured the Commission of their full cooperation to ensure that the forthcoming elections in West Bengal are conducted peacefully and without violence.