Opposition parties plan to demand the deployment of central forces at polling booths during the municipal elections in Bengal, likely to held in mid-April. The Opposition will raise the demand with the State Election Commission, which will hold an all-party meeting on March 13, sources said. Recently, State Election Commission Saurabh Das had held a meeting with 18 District Magistrates to discuss the preparations for the upcoming polls. Sources said the Opposition believed that a free and fair election could be conducted only with the deployment of central forces and cited incidents of alleged violence that took place during the previous panchayat and civic polls under the TMC rule. The opposition leaders alleged that during the last panchayat election, they had failed to file nomination in nearly 35 percent seats, and in places where they had filed nomination, the supporters failed to reach the polling booth, sources added. BJP leader Rahul Sinha said, “We have already said that during this regime free and fair election is impossible without sufficient presence of central forces. We will tell this to the poll panel chief.” CPM leader Sujan Chakraborty said, “We have already demanded that polls should be conducted in one phase. Also EVMs should be used, not ballots. The TMC is afraid of defeat and so wants the ballot. The state’s law and order situation is worrisome and central forces should obviously be deployed.” A senior TMC leader said, “The party wants the civic polls to be conducted peacefully. For that, the state police is enough.”
