BJP in favour of 1 or 2 phase polls, raises 16-point charter before ECI
The Statesman | 10 March 2026
With the West Bengal readies for Assembly election in the coming months, the full Bench of the Election Commission of India (ECI), currently on a visit to the state capital, on Monday held meetings with representatives of various political parties to review poll preparedness in the state.
During the interaction, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) placed a set of specific proposals before the commission, stressing the need to ensure a free, fair and fear-free electoral environment.
Representing the state unit of the BJP, a delegation comprising Tapas Roy, Shishir Bajoria and Jagannath Chattopadhyay submitted a 16-point charter of demands before the commission. A key proposal placed by the party was that the Assembly election in the state should be conducted within one or two phases instead of multiple phases.
According to the BJP leaders, conducting the election over a shorter period with adequate deployment of central forces would help prevent violence and ensure smoother poll management. In the 2021 Assembly election, polling in West Bengal was held in eight phases. That election witnessed several incidents of violence both during and after the poll process, which the BJP cited while pressing its demand for a violence-free election. The BJP delegation also raised concerns about the functioning and deployment of security forces during elections. The party urged the commission to ensure the effective utilisation of central armed police forces (CAPF) across polling stations.
The BJP proposed that CAPF personnel should be deployed at every booth instead of relying solely on the state police. The party further demanded that central forces should also patrol areas outside polling stations to prevent intimidation of voters and attempts to capture booths. Another issue highlighted by the BJP was the preparation and verification of electoral rolls. The party expressed apprehension over alleged discrepancies in the voter list, including the presence of fake voters and the omission of genuine names. It urged the commission to ensure that the voter list for the polls is transparent and error-free. The BJP also emphasised the need for administrative neutrality during the election process and called for adequate security arrangements to ensure that voters can cast their ballots without fea