Ahead of the upcoming crucial Assembly elections in West Bengal, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has instructed the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, to provide weekly and district-wise reports on the state’s law and order situation. District magistrates, acting as district electoral officers (DEOs), will submit these reports to the CEO’s office, which will then forward them to the ECI headquarters in New Delhi every week.
The Commission’s review of these reports will play a vital role in determining the deployment of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) personnel for the Assembly elections, as per an insider from the CEO’s office. A recent meeting at the ECI headquarters in New Delhi, attended by West Bengal CEO Manoj Kumar Agarwal and chaired by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh, discussed this matter along with the CEOs of other poll-bound states.
The ECI has intensified monitoring of the law and order situation in the poll-bound states, especially West Bengal, and has appointed 15 nodal agencies to aid in the review process, according to a source from the CEO’s office. The forthcoming Assembly elections in West Bengal are expected to see a substantial increase in CAPF deployment compared to the previous polls in 2016 and 2021, mainly due to the proposal for fewer voting phases.
The plan is to conduct the elections in either a single phase or a maximum of two phases, requiring a higher number of CAPF companies. These issues will be deliberated upon in a significant meeting at the ECI office in New Delhi today. In the 2021 Assembly elections, West Bengal had elections in eight phases, while in 2016, it was conducted in six phases, with the first phase spanning two days.
