Kolkata, Dec 26 With the crucial West Bengal Assembly elections scheduled next year, the Election Commission of India (ECI) is planning a more elaborate web surveillance mechanism for polling booths across the state during the voting process.
According to sources in the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, as a first step, cameras installed inside polling booths for webcasting will be positioned in such a manner that a 360-degree view of the entire room is available to officials monitoring the live feed from control rooms.
Secondly, high-resolution cameras will also be installed outside polling booths to capture visuals of the surrounding area for a certain distance. This measure is aimed at enabling quick identification of any unauthorised gathering of political party workers or other suspicious activity near polling stations.
At the same time, insiders from the CEO's office said that every camera installed at polling booths would be thoroughly checked by technical teams appointed by the Election Commission before the commencement of polling.
Any malfunction detected during the polling period will be addressed on an emergency basis by the technical teams. Similarly, any attempt to tamper with the cameras or the webcasting process, including efforts to cover camera lenses, will be dealt with immediately.
Meanwhile, the possibility has emerged that the number of phases for the West Bengal Assembly elections in 2026 may be significantly fewer compared to the previous two Assembly elections in 2016 and 2021, if the Election Commission accepts the proposal submitted by the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal.
A preliminary decision in this regard may be taken at a crucial meeting of the Commission scheduled for January 5. The meeting will be attended by West Bengal CEO Manoj Kumar Agarwal, along with other senior officials from his office.
Sources in the CEO's office said the proposal is to complete the elections in a single phase, and if that is not feasible, in a maximum of two phases, but not beyond that.
In 2021, the West Bengal Assembly elections were conducted in eight phases, with polling held between March 27 and April 29.
In 2016, the Assembly elections were held in six phases, with the first phase spread over two days, effectively making it a seven-day polling exercise.
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