Bengal's law and order sound as poll phases brought down to two, says Trinamool's Chandrima Bhattacharya

Kolkata, March 16 A day after the Election Commission announced the poll schedule for West Bengal, senior Trinamool Congress leader and state minister Chandrima Bhattacharya said that the law and order situation in the state is sound as the election has been brought down to two phases from eight.

Bhattacharya claimed that following the failure of a conspiracy involving an eight-phase election in 2021, the Election Commission has reduced it to just two phases.

"From eight phases down to two.

Hitting out at the Election Commission, the minister said: "The Commission had been raising concerns regarding the state's law and order situation. Yet, they are the very ones who have now reduced the polling schedule from eight phases down to two. This serves as proof that the law and order situation in the state is, in fact, good. However, the conspiracy that the Election Commission, which is acting as an agency of the BJP, sought to orchestrate through an eight-phase election had failed. It will fail this time as well."

At the same time, she said: "Even if there is any underlying motive behind holding the polls in two phases instead of one, the Commission's strategy will ultimately fail."

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Sunday announced a two-phase polling schedule for the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections — April 23 and April 29 — even as the fate of over 42 lakh voters referred for judicial adjudication after being classified under the “logical discrepancy” category remains uncertain.

According to figures from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, the total number of electors in the state was 7,66,37,529 before the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls was announced in November last year.

However, when the final voters’ list — excluding those referred for judicial adjudication — was published on February 28, the number of electors came down to 6,44,52,609.

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