Kolkata: The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of West Bengal, Manoj Kumar Agarwal, Wednesday afternoon submitted a report to Governor R.N. Ravi on the post-poll violence in the state after the results of the recent Assembly elections were declared May 4.
The CEO at the same time, handed over to the Governor the gazette notification on the list of the 293 elected legislators.
Although elections were conducted in all the 294 Assembly constituencies in the state, the Election Commission of India had ordered repolling in the entire Falta Assembly constituency in South 24 Parganas district May 21, the results of which will be declared May 24.
Insiders from the CEO’s office said that after the handover of the documents, there were discussions between the Governor and the CEO regarding the developments during and after the polls in the state, considering that the administration is still under the jurisdiction of the Election Commission of India.
“There were reports of some post-poll violence in the state after the results were declared May 4. A report was sought in the matter from the office of the Governor and the CEO’s office. The Governor received that report from the CEO Wednesday and also enquired about the prevailing situation as well as about the steps taken to prevent such post-poll violence,” the CEO’s office insider said.
The Election Commission Tuesday, directed West Bengal Chief Secretary, Director General of Police and CAPFs deployed in the state to ensure zero tolerance towards post-poll violence.
The meeting between the Governor and the CEO was amid a critical situation when, despite the BJP having secured a two-thirds majority in the West Bengal Assembly, the outgoing Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, had refused to submit her resignation to the Governor, a long Constitutional practice.
She had refused to resign on the grounds that the official results were not the true reflection of the people’s mandate, and also alleged that the results were a reflection of a rigged polling process carried out by the BJP with the help of the Election Commission of India.
