The polling process in Bengal may not have ended officially if one considers the seriousness with which the Election Commission of India is weighing up the diary entries of the presiding officers apart from the 13,800-odd complaints lodged by various parties during the recently concluded Assembly elections.
Not relying solely on the reports filed by the Observers, the ECI has requisitioned the presiding officers’ diary entries which have already been sent, sources at the State CEO office said adding the Commission has also asked for the Returning Officers’ reports and was likely to tally the reports with the complaints filed by the political parties. This apart, camera footages have also been sent for the Commission’s perusal.
While most political parties had expressed satisfaction at the way the elections were conducted during the last four phases questions were raised over the conduct of elections in the first two phases when poling was held in left Wing Extremism areas of West Midnapore, Bankura, Purulia and parts of Burdwan.
Some constituencies like Narayangarh saw an abnormally high 89 percent polling rate while in places like Rajarhaat-Gopalpur a powerful State Minister was seen capturing polling booths personally and allowing his musclemen to rig polls.
The district police also reportedly submitted "untrue reports" about the murder of a CPI(M) polling agent Ohidul Islam at Domkal Assembly seat when he was dragged out of the booth for objecting to bogus voting and bombed and stabbed to death by alleged Trinamool men. While the distance between where he was killed and the booth wasbarely 80-90 metres the police report to the ECI said the incident took place more than 500 metres away, local CPI(M) candidate Anisur Rehman said.
The Commission had taken some unprecedented measures during the elections by interning some political strongmen like Anubrata Mandal in Birbhum, Anwar Hussein in Kolkata and some others in Malda and elsewhere.