EC action on repeat offenders ahead of Bengal polls; 106 taken into ‘preventive’ detention

THe Election direction of republic of india (ECI) has taken 106 people with felon antecedents in prophylactic detainment in an overnight crackdown across three districts of West Bengal that are going to polls in first phase of state assembly elections on April 23, officials familiar with the matter said on Monday. Meanwhile, the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) has filed a PIL before the Calcutta High Court claiming that around 800 of its workers could be detained before the polls on ECI’s directions.According to senior officials at the state Chief Electoral Officer’s (CEO) office, the arrests were carried out between Sunday and Monday in Cooch Behar, South 24 Parganas, and Murshidabad districts of West Bengal on ECI’s directions.A senior ECI official said, “This is a targeted preventive action based on identified inputs. The objective is to ensure a violence-free and intimidation-free polling process. Such measures are part of standard protocol in sensitive constituencies.”The official added that the overnight operation is part of a broader surveillance and enforcement framework the poll body has activated ahead of first-phase polling. The two-phase assembly elections are scheduled for April 23 and April 29, with 152 constituencies going to polls in Phase 1 and the remaining 142 in Phase 2, with results to be declared on May 4.For Phase 1, the Commission has deployed 2,193 Quick Response Teams (QRTs) across all constituencies, with heightened focus on sensitive and border districts — Murshidabad, East and West Midnapore, and Junglemahal, said the official, adding that local station house officers and officers-in-charge will face suspension if arms or explosives are found within their jurisdiction on voting day.HT reached out to TMC for a comment, but couldn’t get a response.Meanwhile, the TMC MP and senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee approached the Calcutta High Court on Monday seeking its intervention over an apprehension that nearly 800 TMC workers and leaders could face preventive arrest after being identified following ECI directions. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Partha Sarathi Sen has admitted the plea, and the hearing is scheduled on April 22 — the day before Phase 1 voting.Reacting to the crackdown, BJP West Bengal spokesperson Debjit Sarkar said, “Action like this should not be a one-time exercise. It must be so strict that it sets a strong example. West Bengal has seen shameful incidents in past elections, including the parading of naked women and murders in rural areas. This must stop permanently, and such stringent action should ensure it never happens again.”The ECI has introduced a new directive to ensure the safety and presence of polling agents also known as Booth Level Agent (BLA) inside booths on voting day. Under the new guidelines, if a polling agent steps out of a booth and remains absent for more than 30 minutes, central forces will be deployed to locate the missing agent. Presiding Officers have been given a specific role in this process: they are required to flag the absence first. Following this, the Sector Officer is informed, who then alerts the central forces deployed at the booth. If necessary, police will also be called in to trace the agent.According to ECI officials, the move responds to longstanding complaints that polling agents for specific political parties leave booths after voting begins and do not return, raising allegations of intimidation and forced removal. They further clarified that “the directive’s central purpose is to determine whether an agent left voluntarily or was coerced into leaving, and to ensure that all political parties have their representatives present inside booths throughout the polling process so that no side can use intimidation to gain an unfair advantage”. While Presiding Officers have previously maintained records of agents’ movements, the Commission has now decided to take a more active role. What action the Commission will take if intimidation is proven remains unclear.