The Electoral Commission (EC) issued a meaningless warning to Trinamool Congress (TMC) ahead of the upcoming elections. The poll body declared that the Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal should this time be free from “fear, violence, intimidation and temptation”.
The European Commission also warned against illegal practices, including booth grabbing, booth jamming, and “source jamming,” which refers to disrupting voter mobilization or access.
“ECI direct conversation with Trinamool Congress,” the electoral authority wrote on X. “This time, the elections in West Bengal will definitely be: fear-free, violence-free, intimidation-free, temptation-free, without any raiding, any jamming of booths, no jamming of sources.”
History of violence in West Bengal elections
West Bengal has a long history of election-related violence. Over the past 20 years, hundreds of people have been killed and thousands injured during election campaigns and voting processes. The 2021 House of Representatives elections were particularly bloody, with more than 1,300 incidents of violence, 25 deaths and 7,000 cases of harassment reported, according to a Justice Call fact-finding committee report. The report found that the scale of violence under the Transitional Military Council often exceeds previous records during the rule of the Left Front.
TMC-EC meeting
Earlier on Wednesday, a meeting between the TMC delegation and the European Commission ended in a heated debate. TMC MP Derek O’Brien said Chief Election Commissioner Ganesh Kumar told them to “get lost” after seven minutes, while the EC accused O’Brien of shouting and trying to stop the CEC from speaking.
The TMC handed over letters from Mamata Banerjee and raised concerns about poll officials allegedly linked to the BJP.
Tensions between the TMC and the European Commission escalated during the period Special Intensive Review (SIR) of electoral lists. The TMC alleged that the EC was working in favor of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party to remove voters from the list.
The TMC claimed that of the 60,000 voters subjected to segregation, 27,000 were removed. The total number of voters in West Bengal now stands at 7,04,59,284 (7.04 crore). This excludes names subject to demerger, down from ₹7,66,37,529 (Rs 7.66 lakh crore) before SIR exercise.
EC transfers its officers to Bengal before elections
European Commission last week 483 officials have been transferred in West Bengal ahead of the Assembly elections, a much larger number than other states going to the polls. This includes senior officials, police officers and returning officers.
The TMC opposed it, calling it a power grab, but the European Commission said it was necessary to ensure free and fair elections and avoid a repeat of post-election violence as happened in 2021.
The West Bengal elections will be held in two phases: April 23 and April 29. The results will be announced on May 4.
