Warrant prod before 2019 elections to curb criminals... Bengal poll chief has asked all DMs to keep lists of pending non-bailable warrants ready by early January

Pranesh Sarkar, TT, Calcutta: Bengal chief electoral officer Aariz Aftab has asked all district magistrates to keep lists of pending non-bailable warrants ready by early January when the Election Commission top brass is slated to visit the state before the general elections.

The move indicates that the panel wants action on the warrants long before the election process starts with the declaration of the poll schedule, sources said.

“I have never heard about the list of the warrants being readied so early. Usually, we send reports on their execution but only after the poll process starts,” said a district magistrate.

The instruction came earlier this week during a meeting between Aftab and the district magistrates, who also serve as returning officers during the polls.

Pending non-bailable warrants have been an area of concern in Bengal elections since the years of Left rule. Nirvachan Sadan, the Election Commission’s headquarters in Delhi, has repeatedly had to prod the state administration to prioritise the warrants’ execution in the run-up to elections but the process usually begins after the announcement of dates.

The sources said state BJP leaders had been lodging complaints with the poll panel in recent months, saying a large number of criminals on the loose could create problems during elections.

“These criminals create trouble. They intimidate voters and carry out proxy voting. The attention of the Election Commission has been drawn to the need to arrest such people before the election process starts,” said a source.

Sources said a substantial number of the pending warrants were against habitual offenders. “Bengal has traditionally been a laggard in seizures of illegal arms, preventive arrests and execution of non-bailable warrants,” said a source.

According to a Bengal official, the Election Commission does not want a “repeat” of what happened in the panchayat polls in May this year.

“During those elections, conducted by the state poll panel, many candidates were prevented from filing nominations,” the official said. Around 34 per cent of the panchayat seats were uncontested and went to the ruling Trinamul.

The sources also said all DMs and additional DMs would have to undergo a five-day poll training in Delhi and clear a test.