Police Officers Adopting Unfair Means to Prevent Free and Fair Bengal Polls: BJP

The BJP on Saturday lodged a complaint with the Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal against some police officers for allegedly resorting to unfair means to prevent free and fair assembly polls in the state. Senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Swapan Dasgupta said it had come to the notice of the party that the police officers have been demanding submission of Aadhaar cards and other documents from officials designated for election duty.

”We smell a rat in the whole exercise and have been seeking an appointment with the commissioner of Kolkata Police for the last four days, but in vain. So, we came to the CEO’s office to apprise him of the matter,” Dasgupta told reporters here. This a conspiracy to prevent free and fair elections in the state, he claimed.

Another BJP leader Sabyasachi Dutta alleged that despite the model code of conduct coming into force, few administrators of municipal bodies were issuing project orders. The Election Commission of India had on Friday announced an eight-phase polls in West Bengal, which will commence on March 27 and conclude on April 29.