4 min readMar 11, 2026 07:48 AM IST
First published on: Mar 11, 2026 at 07:48 AM IST
Elections in West Bengal have been held in a minimum of five phases (2014 Lok Sabha polls) since 2011, going up to a mammoth eight-phase exercise in the Assembly elections five years ago. But this time around, Opposition parties in the state have urged the Election Commission (EC) to organise the coming Assembly polls in as few phases as possible.
While the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) in its meeting with Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi pushed for the inclusion of all eligible voters in the electoral rolls, the Opposition parties cited various reasons for their demand for as few phases as possible. Their central concern is that a lengthy election provides the TMC, which has a far better poll machinery at its disposal, an advantage, while in a short election, its resources and cadre base could be stretched thin.
BJP: The primary Opposition party met the EC delegation on Monday morning and asked for the polls not to be held in more than two to three phases. “We demanded a one, two or three-phase election, but not more,” said BJP leader Jagannath Chattopadhyay, who was part of the three-member party delegation that met the poll body’s top officials.
“In our experience from the 2021 and 2024 elections, the TMC always mobilises miscreants from different areas on polling day. If the election is held in one, two, or three phases, TMC won’t be able to do that,” said a senior BJP leader.
Another key concern the BJP delegation raised was related to the deployment and utilisation of almost 400 companies of the central armed forces currently stationed in the state. “We are dissatisfied with the way the state police is utilising the central forces. If a violence-free and fearless environment is to be created, the Commission must take action against the state police and government officials who prevent voters from casting their own ballots,” Chattopadhyay said.
Left: The CPI(M) formally urged the CEC and the ECs to limit the elections to a single phase, reasoning that multiple phases allow for the “movement of anti-social elements across different constituencies, potentially affecting the fairness of the process”.
CPI(M) state secretary Md Salim said if a single phase was not feasible, the election should not extend beyond two phases.
“Not only anti-social elements, electoral issues can also change and affect the elections in multi-phase polls. After the Sitalkuchi incident (during polling in 2021) in which four people were killed in firing by the central forces, both the BJP and the TMC exploited it to polarise the political environment. Such things can be minimised if there are fewer phases.”
Congress: The Congress has also asked for fewer phases this time. But party leader Pradip Bhattacharya said if the EC finds it difficult to deploy sufficient central forces in such a scenario, “we don’t want that”. “We want a violence-free election in as few phases as possible,” he said.
State CEO’s view
Not just the Opposition parties in the state, the state’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Agarwal has also made a pitch for fewer phases this time, it is learnt. “The CEO is also in favour of conducting elections in fewer phases. However, it depends on how many central armed police forces (CAPF) will be available. That will basically determine the number of phases. But, overall, the CEO’s office does not want an unnecessarily lengthy electoral process. Their point of view is that a lengthy election creates fatigue in the election machinery as well as the central forces. As a result, in elections with a high number of phases, more violence tends to occur. The CEO does not want it this time.”
Elections in West Bengal