Complimenting West Bengal government for being extremely cooperative, Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi on Wednesday said all suggestions and instructions of the Commission were being readily complied with in the poll-bound state.
“We are very satisfied and the level of compliance with regard to neutrality among the officers is good”, Mr Quraishi said at a press conference at the end of the two-day review of poll preparedness and law and order situation in West Bengal by a full bench of the Commission here.
The EC bench, headed by the CEC, held a series of meetings with political parties, district magistrates, superintendents of police, city police chief, divisional commissioners, chief secretary, home secretary and DGP, to review the law and order situation and election preparedness. Mr Quraishi said the Commission, after making a review of the execution of the non-bailable warrants (NBWs), had found that the execution rate was two to three times more in the state than before.
“Compliance rate of the model code of conduct is good in West Bengal and recovery of arms has increased three to four times than before ... Deposits of licensed arms too is good,” the CEC said.
Mr Quraishi, who, on his last visit to the state, had expressed concern over the law and order situation, said mostly the officers were neutral “and I told the officers at a meeting in clear terms that neutrality is non-negotiable”. The CEC referred to complaints from some political parties about harassment from police with regard to NBW execution.
“I have instructed the officers that there should be no harassment of political parties during carrying out NBWs,” he added.
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Petrol bomb hurled at DMDK candidate
Namakkal (TN), March 23: Unidentified persons threw a ‘petrol-bomb’ at the residence of a DMDK candidate for Trichengode in the April 13 Tamil Nadu Assembly polls, police said on Wednesday.
The front door, a two-wheeler and window panes were damaged when the bomb exploded, they said, adding no one was injured.
The candidate, Sampath Kumar and his family, who were inside the house at the time of the incident Tuesday night, lodged a complaint with police.
Actor Vijayakant’s DMDK is contesting 41 seats as part of the Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK combine. — PTI