March 10 (TSP Bangla) – Gyanesh Kumar on Monday warned Bengal’s district election officers (DEOs), district magistrates and superintendents of police that the Election Commission of India would not tolerate any violence during the upcoming Assembly elections.
“The EC will not tolerate any violence during the polls. If violence takes place during the polls, the officers responsible in advance for dealing with such situations would be identified and undoubtedly punished,” the CEC, who was in Calcutta with his team, was quoted as saying in a meeting with senior bureaucrats.
Officials in the state administration said the warning indicated that the poll panel was closely monitoring districts where irregularities had been reported during the special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls. According to them, the EC’s message made it clear that the performance of local officials in those districts was under scrutiny.
“If the DEOs had been alert, irregularities in uploading documents or ineligible voter approvals could have been averted. If that lax approach continues, elections will not be free and fair in Bengal. The EC has made it clear that it would not tolerate any mistake, intentional or unintentional, by officials,” said a bureaucrat.
The full bench of the Election Commission of India, which was in Calcutta to review Bengal’s preparedness for the Assembly elections, held meetings with representatives of political parties in the morning. Later in the day, the panel met district magistrates, superintendents of police, other senior police officers and representatives of several central agencies.
“All should keep in mind that the EC can take steps against errant officers anytime,” an official present in the meeting quoted CEC Kumar.
Citing instances of irregularities during the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Gyanesh Kumar warned district officials that any similar lapses during the elections would not be tolerated.
During the SIR exercise, the Election Commission of India had pulled up several district magistrates for uploading ineligible documents and approving the inclusion of voters on the basis of such documents.
“The EC was shocked to see ineligible documents, including blank papers, newspaper cuttings and blurry photographs were uploaded. More surprisingly, such voters were approved for inclusion in the electoral rolls. The EC raised the issue on Monday to caution the district officials that such irregularities would not be tolerated during the polls,” said an official present in the meeting.
Opposition parties on Monday also flagged the issue of poll-related violence in Bengal during their meeting with the full bench of the Election Commission of India, sources said.
It is often alleged that the ruling party in the state creates an atmosphere of fear in certain areas to prevent Opposition parties from campaigning or reaching polling booths, and to discourage their supporters from casting votes. Opposition leaders have also claimed that district authorities frequently look the other way when such complaints are lodged.
The poll panel warned officials that any violence during the 2026 Bengal Assembly elections would not be tolerated. Gyanesh Kumar and his team asked district officials to begin raids from Monday evening to seize illegal firearms and curb the circulation of black money and illicit liquor.
The commission also directed officials to deploy central forces effectively to prevent any untoward incidents during the election period.
