Kolkata, Feb 6 The office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, has explained why it is recommending a single-phase poll for the forthcoming Assembly elections in the state scheduled later this year.
According to insiders, the CEO’s office will soon send its recommendation for a single-phase poll to the Election Commission of India (ECI), while maintaining that the final decision will rest with the Commission’s top leadership in New Delhi.
In the recommendation, the CEO’s office will detail why a single-phase poll is considered necessary to ensure free and fair elections in West Bengal.
CEO’s office insiders said the main argument in favour of a single-phase poll would be Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s criticism of the ECI’s decision to conduct the 2021 Assembly elections in eight phases, when the country was grappling with the second wave of COVID-19.
At that time, the Chief Minister had observed that if a single-phase election was possible in Tamil Nadu, which has 234 Assembly constituencies, there was no reason for an eight-phase poll in West Bengal, which has 294 constituencies.
“In the past, too, there have been instances of single-phase polls in West Bengal. So that will be the recommendation from the CEO’s office. Now, the final decision will rest with the Commission,” a CEO’s office insider said.
The insider also pointed out that a single-phase poll in 2026 would have both advantages and disadvantages.
“The advantage is that political parties will not be able to mobilise their supporters from one area to another, thereby addressing the traditional complaint of outsider mobilisation on polling day or on the eve of polling, which intimidates voters,” the insider said.
However, a single-phase election would require a larger deployment of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), especially on polling day.
“If the Commission can ensure that arrangement, the idea of a single-phase poll is quite feasible,” the insider added.
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