In a significant development at the Calcutta High Court, Sumit Pande, a presiding officer from the recent West Bengal panchayat elections, unveiled a distressing account of being coerced into overlooking blatant election malpractices due to life-threatening intimidation.
Pande, who is professionally associated with Kendriya Vidyalaya in Kolkata, was entrusted with the responsibility of overseeing the polling process at a booth in Beldanga-II block, Murshidabad district. His revelations came to light in an affidavit he submitted to Justice Amrita Sinha’s single-judge bench. The court was in the process of evaluating a plea by Nasima Begum, a CPI(M) candidate, who has been fervently pushing for a re-election in light of the alleged irregularities.
Earlier, in a bid to ascertain the veracity of the claims, Justice Sinha had instructed Pande to furnish a comprehensive report detailing the events that unfolded on the polling day. In his detailed affidavit, Pande painted a grim picture of the day’s events. Pande recounted the harrowing experience, stating,
“miscreants took total control of the booth where he was a presiding officer by 12 noon. They broke the CCTV camera, snatched ballot papers and started mass stamping on a particular symbol.”
These individuals went on to vandalize the CCTV cameras, forcibly take possession of ballot papers, and then proceeded to engage in mass stamping on a specific symbol.
But the ordeal didn’t end there. Pande further elaborated on the atmosphere of fear and intimidation that pervaded the polling station. The miscreants, he stated, continuously issued threats of grave consequences to the polling officers, ensuring their compliance and silence. In a strategic move to prevent any external communication, the miscreants confiscated the mobile phones of all polling officers, effectively isolating them and preventing them from reporting the incident to higher authorities.
After their illicit activities had concluded, these individuals further manipulated the situation by pressuring Pande into falsely documenting that the entire polling process had been conducted without any disturbances.
This incident is particularly alarming given the broader context of the recent panchayat elections in West Bengal. The elections were overshadowed by widespread violence, leading to the tragic demise of 55 individuals. Such incidents emphasize the urgent need for reinforced security measures and greater transparency in the electoral process to ensure the sanctity of democratic practices.
