West Bengal State Election Commission reviews panchayat poll security

A vector illustration of a person posting a voting card into a ballot box. The caucasian hand comes in from the top left, the blank card is being placed into a grey ballot box. The box is casting a shadow towards the bottom left of the image. The background is light blue

A vector illustration of a person posting a voting card into a ballot box. The caucasian hand comes in from the top left, the blank card is being placed into a grey ballot box. The box is casting a shadow towards the bottom left of the image. The background is light blue  

West Bengal State Election Commission (SEC) on Saturday held a meeting with 10 political parties of West Bengal on the subject of security arrangements for the upcoming Panchayat polls in the State.

Representatives of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), Congress, and other political parties, met State Election Commissioner A.K. Singh.

While representatives of the ruling Trinamool Congress refused to comment on the matter, BJP and CPI(M) leaders who attended the meeting expressed concern. “Armed forces are needed in every polling booth,” Jayprakash Majumder, State BJP vice president, who was part of the BJP delegation meeting the SEC, said.

The West Bengal government, which has sought additional forces from other States, has assured that adequate forces will be available for holding the polls on a single day on May 14.