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West Bengal municipal elections: Parties express lack of confidence in Election Commissioner AK Singh

Political leaders other than the ruling TMC, expressed their lack of confidence on Singh, as far as conducting polls was concerned.

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Ahead of election at seven municipalities in the state, West Bengal State Election Commissioner AK Singh met representatives of all political parties on Monday at the commission office.

Political leaders other than the ruling TMC, expressed their lack of confidence on Singh, as far as conducting polls was concerned. TMC national general secretary Subrata Bakshi said, “We had put forwarded certain proposals so that the election is carried out smoothly and in a free and fair manner.”

Senior CPI(M) leader Rabin Deb said Singh was too inexperienced to oversee the poll process smoothly. “Given his experience we have our doubts whether he would be able to conduct the polls properly. We have demanded for new Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and all of those should be equipped with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trials (VVPATs),” said Deb. 

He also alleged that the State Election Commission (SEC) was partial towards the state government. “On April 12, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will address a rally at Domkal in Murshidabad district which will go for polls. The SEC has decided to issue poll notification on April 17 to avoid disturbing the CM’s meeting because had it been done ahead of April 12, the meeting would have violated model code of conduct,” Deb added.

State Congress vice president Debabrata Basu said that among other things they have demanded central forces oversee the poll process.

Senior state BJP leader Asim Sarkar said they were apprehensive that the poll would not be carried out in a peaceful manner. “The SEC should ensure that election is not turned into a joke under the terror unleashed by the ruling regime,” Sarkar said.

On May 14, elections to seven municipalities will be conducted. Of these, four – Darjeeling, Kurseong, Kalimpong and Mirik – are in the hills, while three are in the plains. They are Raiganj in North Dinajpore district, Domkal in Murshidabad district and Pujali in South 24 Parganas district.

Poll results will be out on May 17.

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