Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders called on the Election Commission of India (ECI) on to urge the authorities to declare West Bengal as “super-sensitive”, and sought deployment of central forces in all polling booths of the state.
The BJP team expressed apprehensions that the Trinamool Congress will not allow free and fair election in the state. BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad and health minister JP Nadda among others met the ECI on Wednesday to communicate their demand. They also said there should be a “media observer” for Bengal, as the media could not report freely under the current circumstances.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, Ravi Shankar Prasad added that a “list of officers whose impartiality is doubtful” has also been handed over to the ECI. Saying that “officers sit on dharna along with the chief minister”, Ravi Shankar Prasad added that around 100 murders took place in West Bengal during the panchayat elections.
The deployment of central forces is deemed necessary by the BJP to ensure free and fair elections in Bengal under the circumstances, he said, as it has a history of poll-related violence. He further alleged that the “police there functions as the workers of Trinamool Congress”.
Prasad also referred to the use of a circular issued in 1986 which was now being used to stop opposition parties from using loudspeakers near educational institutions and religious places. Pointing out that the “exams are getting over in March”, he described the use of the 1986 circular as “unfortunate”.
