Election Commission also warned against illegal practices including booth capturing and booth jamming during the upcoming West Bengal assembly elections.
The Election Commission (EC) has issued a no-nonsense warning to the Trinamool Congress (TMC) ahead of the upcoming polls. The poll body declared that this time, West Bengal’s assembly elections should be free from “fear, violence, intimidation and inducement.”
The EC also warned against illegal practices, including booth capturing, booth jamming, and “source jamming,” which refers to disruptions in voter mobilisation or access.
“ECI's Straight-talk to Trinamool Congress,” the election authority wrote on X. “This time, the Elections in West Bengal would surely be: Fear-free, Violence-free, Intimidation-free, Inducement-free and without any Raid, Booth Jamming and Source Jamming.”
History of violence in West Bengal elections
West Bengal has a long history of election-related violence. Over the past 20 years, hundreds of people have been killed and thousands injured during campaigns and polling. The 2021 Assembly elections were especially bloody, with more than 1,300 incidents of violence, 25 deaths, and 7,000 cases of molestation reported, as per a Call of Justice fact-finding committee report. The report found that the scale of violence under the TMC has often eclipsed previous records during Left Front rule.
TMC-EC meet
Earlier on Wednesday, a meeting between a TMC delegation and the EC ended in a heated exchange. TMC MP Derek O’Brien said chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar told them to “get lost” after seven minutes, while the EC accused O’Brien of shouting and trying to stop the CEC from speaking.
The TMC handed letters from Mamata Banerjee and raised concerns about poll officials allegedly linked to the BJP.
Tensions between the TMC and the EC have intensified over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The TMC has alleged that the EC is acting in favour of the opposition BJP to remove voters from the list.
Of the 60 lakh voters placed under adjudication, 27 lakh have been removed, TMC claimed. West Bengal’s total number of voters now stands at 7,04,59,284 (7.04 crore). These exclude names under adjudication, down from 7,66,37,529 (7.66 crore) before the SIR exercise.
EC transfers officers in Bengal ahead of polls
The EC, last week, shifted 483 officials in West Bengal before the Assembly elections, far more than in other states going to polls. This includes top administrators, police officers, and returning officers.
The TMC opposed the transfers, calling them a power grab, but the EC said they are needed to ensure free and fair elections and avoid repeat post-poll violence like in 2021.
West Bengal votes in two phases: April 23 and April 29. Results will be out on May 4.
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