ECI seeks daily report on law & order situation in Bengal

Kolkata, Jan 11 (IANS) The office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) in West Bengal will now have to send daily reports on the law & order situation in the state to the Election Commission of India (ECI).

Insiders in the CEO office said that the commission top brass wants information on every instance of breach in law & order normalcy in every corner of the state, the compilation of which will come handy in chalking out the future security arrangements for the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls scheduled this year.

In the daily report, among others, media reports on the breach in law & order situation has to be attached. Besides reports on the law & order situation the office of the CEO, West Bengal will have to send regular reports to the commission on some other subjects.

They are details of the revised voters’ list, identification of fake and dead voters, duplicate EPIC cards, the observation of the different political parties on this count, conditions of the electronic voting machines and VVPATS available in the state, among others.

A CEO office insider said that although seeking frequent reports before any election is a common practice, this time the process had to be started much earlier to the polls as instructed by the commission. According to him, once the polling dates are announced the daily reports to be sent to the commission will be more voluminous since it will include reports on instances of model code of conduct violations and recoveries of different items like cash, liquor, illegal arms and ammunition, among others.

Political observers feel that the recent attack on the ED and CAPF personnel by followers of a local Trinamool Congress leader at Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district has sharpened the focus of the central agencies on West Bengal.

The factor of seeking daily reports on the law & order situation in the state might have some links with that incident, feel observers.