EC reviews poll preparedness in Bengal, stresses on making electoral rolls accurate

In a meeting held to review poll preparedness in West Bengal Thursday, the Election Commission laid stress on increasing the accuracy of electoral rolls, officials said.

The meeting was held between full bench of the Commission, district election officials, superintendents of police, divisional commissioners and other district officials of the state.

The Commission directed officials to launch a special drive to include names of new voters and strike off names of fake and bogus voters, an official said.

It sought a detailed report about poll-related violence that took place during last elections in the state and inquired about the number of cases pending since the last elections were held in the state, an official said.

Commission officials also inquired about reports on recent recovery of arms and ammunition in the state, the official said.

Electoral roll cleansing is on the radar and we have been asked to ensure that bogus voters are removed from the list. Work on it will start immediately, the official told PTI.

Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora, Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa, senior and deputy election commissioners Umesh Sinha, Sandip Saxena, Sudip Jain, Chandrabushan Kumar were present at the meeting.

The Commission also directed to initiate transfers of the police officers, who have been posted at a location for more than three years.

"It also instructed that security arrangements at the international and at the inter-state borders be beefed up," the official who was present at the meeting, said.