'All possible measures taken for peaceful poll in Bengal'

The Election Commission has taken all possible measures to ensure peaceful elections in the first phase in West Bengal on Thursday and polling officials need not worry for their security, an official said on Wednesday.

The vote for the state's Cooch Behar (SC) and Alipurduar (ST) constituencies will start at 7 a.m. and continue till 6 p.m.

Polling officials had organised protests in various districts of the state, saying they were "afraid" of their security following the death of poll official, Rajkumar Ray, whose body was found on train track near north Bengal's Raiganj station during the panchayat election last year.

"All possible measures have been taken to ensure a peaceful election. Security of the polling officials and voters is the commission's priority," Additional Chief Electoral Officer Sanjay Basu told reporters here.

About compensation for polling officials in case of any casualty or injury, Deputy CEO Amit Jyoti Bhattacharya said that ex-gratia compensation of Rs 10 lakh will be given if a person dies while on duty.

If a polling official gets injured, he is given Rs 5 lakh, he said.

Basu also said that a total of 3,844 EVMs will be used in the first phase.

There will be 2,010 Ballot Units (BU), Control Units (CU) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPATs) in Cooch Behar constituency, while Alipurduar constituency will use 1,834 BUs, CUs and VVPATs.

--IANS

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