Bengal Polls: Trinamool Congress urges state election commission to club remaining phases due to Covid surge

In the memorandum addressed to the chief electoral officer of West Bengal, the TMC said that the entire country, including Bengal, “is faced with a gargantuan need to use all its resources to fight the pandemic” along with the task of completing the remaining three phases of the ongoing elections in the state in the next 10 days.

With three more phases left to the high-stakes assembly elections in West Bengal, the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Tuesday submitted a memorandum to the state election commission where it requested the commission to club the remaining sixth, seventh and eight phases of voting due to the surge coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases. This comes just a day after TMC supremo and state chief minister Mamata Banerjee requested the Election Commission (EC) to club these three phases of voting into one.

People in queues to cast their vote showing voter ID cards during the fifth phase of West Bengal Assembly Election 2021 in Salt Lake. (Samir Jana/HT Photo)

The sixth phase of polling in Bengal will take place on Thursday while the seventh and eight phases will be held on April 26 and April 29, respectively.

In the memorandum addressed to the chief electoral officer of West Bengal, the TMC said at present the entire country, including Bengal, “is faced with a gargantuan need to use all its resources to fight the pandemic” along with the task of completing the remaining three phases of the ongoing elections in the state in the next 10 days.

The TMC cited an order of the Calcutta high court on April 13 where it instructed the state CEO to take urgent steps to address the serious concern at hand and pointed out that it is crucial to avert a deadly disaster which is staring at people in the form of “possible galloping rise in Covid-19 cases.” The Election Commission, however, only limited the campaigning period for the remaining phases of the election.

In response, the TMC said that due to the nature of the pandemic cosmetic changes such as reducing the duration of the campaigning period was not a holistic solution.

The memorandum also mentioned that the entire country is aware of the dangers of the unprecedented spread of the disease and several measures have been taken to combat the second wave before it stresses the resources of states. “Elections were announced on February 26. Since then, parties and candidates have spent almost 52 days campaigning. No prejudice will be caused if the phases are clubbed into one.”

This year, elections have happened in four states and one Union Territory amid the worsening Covid-19 situation. Political parties especially in West Bengal, have faced heat over organising rallies and road shows where there is complete violation of all coronavirus-related protocol, such as wearing of masks and maintaining physical distancing during poll rallies and road shows.

The TMC and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced on Monday they will reduce their campaigning in Bengal for the last three phases. The BJP said people participating in rallies will be limited to 500 and meetings will be held in open spaces.