The Election Commission of India feels that the law and order situation in West Bengal is much worse than it had expected earlier. The team of six special observers, appointed by the EC, submitted a preliminary report to the EC on its recent visit in the state to make a first-hand assessment of the law and order situation in West Bengal.
“The ground conditions are much worse than what we had expected,” sources at the EC, who are familiar to this report, revealed.
The EC, which had earlier apprehended that conducting the Assembly elections in the state this time would be very tough given the escalating political violence, is now convinced about this reality. It is also compounded by the growing violence in the Maoists-affected West Midnapur, Bankura and Purulia districts and disturbances in the Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri.
Given the fact that the political violence may further rise in the run up to the polls, the EC may also consider to announce the poll dates soon. The announcement of poll dates would immediately bring in the model code of conduct into effect. It would also help the administration to function and act independently without any political pressure.
Meanwhile, though the CPI(M) has protested to the visit of the EC special observers, the district administrative officials are happy with the visit of the observers. “It is good that the EC itself has assessed the ground conditions,” a district superintendent of police said on the condition of anonymity. The district level officers have requested for deployment of more Central forces for conducting the Assembly elections this time. “We will not only urge for more Central forces, but will also request to send some of the forces in advance of the poll dates,” a top state government official said.