State bureaucracy asked to ensure level playing field for all parties

Law enforcement agencies and other related entities have been instructed to maintain strict surveillance on both interstate and international borders to curb the flow of inducements, especially drugs, gold, and counterfeit Indian currency

Agencies with inputs from PTI: Following two-day meetings with political parties, DMs, SPs, Chief Secretary BP Gopalika and DGP Rajeev Kumar, and after holding marathon meetings with various stakeholders, chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Tuesday said West Bengal bureaucracy has been specifically told to ensure level playing field for all political parties. 

He made it clear that election commission's priority is to conduct free and fair elections in a "transparent manner". 

The CEC also emphasised that law enforcement agencies and other related entities have been instructed to maintain strict surveillance on both interstate and international borders to curb the flow of inducements, especially drugs, gold, and counterfeit Indian currency. 

The CEC urged state and district administrations to ensure transparency in granting permissions to parties for ground and meeting places for campaigning based on a "First In First Out" principle.Kumar stated: "No civilian volunteers or contractual staff should be assigned election duties or tasked with maintaining law and order, either directly or indirectly." 

"The SPs have been repeatedly told that if there is any complaint of intimidation, they should take immediate action. They have assured us that it will be done. If they don't act, we know what needs to be done to make them act. 

"Police officials have been instructed to be impartial and be accessible to all political parties at the district level," Kumar said. It is imperative to maintain impartiality even at the junior level where officials operate at the grassroots, he said. 

The CEC said that the total electorate in the state stands at 7.58 crore, comprising approximately 3.85 crore male and 3.73 crore female voters, with around 15.25 lakh being first-time voters. 

Speaking on the deployment of Central forces, he affirmed: "An adequate number of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) will be deployed in the state in advance for confidence-building measures." 

"The deployment will be made in consultation with District Electoral Officers (DEOs), Superintendents of Police, Police Commissioners, and General Observers to sensitive areas. The CAPF deployment plan must be shared with political parties during weekly meetings," Kumar said. 

The CEC stressed the necessity for various agencies of both the state and Centre, including the Enforcement Directorate (ED), to work in a coordinated manner rather than in isolation to ensure "inducement-free elections." 

Regarding the EC's efforts to curb the use of money power and liquor in elections, he emphasised the need for swift and stringent action against liquor kingpins. 

"We have instructed all agencies to ensure strict action is taken against the use of money power during elections. We must halt the influx and distribution of liquor, cash, freebies, and drugs. Liquor smugglers must be apprehended. There must be vigilant monitoring of illicit online cash transfers via wallets," he highlighted. 

The full bench of the Election Commission (EC) was in the metropolis for the last two days holding meetings with representatives of political parties, and would later meet government officials to discuss preparations for the upcoming LokSabha elections in West Bengal