The Election Commission of India (ECI) has intensified efforts to curb unauthorized political advertisements in West Bengal before the upcoming two-phase Assembly elections. A total of 358,986 such ads have already been taken down across the state. Among these, 311,829 cases were linked to defacing public property, while 19,901 involved defacing private property.
Cooch Behar district in north Bengal saw the highest number of removals at 33,491, with 29,474 cases related to public property defacement and 4,017 to private property. Following closely, North 24 Parganas district reported 31,920 removals, including 31,789 instances of public property defacement and 105 cases of private property defacement.
In contrast, Kalimpong district had the least removals at 593, all associated with defacing public property. Additionally, the Election Commission is set to release the first supplementary list of cases for judicial adjudication under the “logical discrepancy” category on Monday to ensure fair election practices.
The West Bengal Assembly elections are scheduled for April 23 and April 29 in two phases across 152 and 142 constituencies, respectively. Kolkata Police Commissioner Ajay Nand has emphasized a zero-tolerance policy towards booth jamming, vote rigging, or booth capturing during the elections in the city. Security measures are being ramped up to maintain peace and order during the electoral process.
