EC seeks 'ground level' report from West Bengal poll authorities after BJP plea

On a day the BJP urged the Election Commission to declare West Bengal a "super sensitive state" to ensure fair Lok Sabha polls, the poll panel Wednesday sought a "ground level" report from the state chief electoral officer.

Sources in the poll panel said that the CEO has to file the report on the actual ground situation.

The BJP had also demanded that central forces be deployed at all polling stations in the state. "This happens in every state," a functionary explained.

Briefing the media after meeting EC officials, Law Minister and BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said, "We have requested the Election Commission that the state of West Bengal should be declared as super-sensitive. And have also demanded that central forces should be deployed at all polling booths in the state."

He said the party also requested the poll panel to transfer those police officers whose electoral impartiality is questionable as well as the withdrawal of former Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar from ...