As the elections concluded on Wednesday in West Bengal, the Chief Electoral Officer of the state Manoj Agarwal said the election process was largely peaceful, with “no deaths and no large-scale violence” reported, calling it a “noteworthy achievement” of the police and central forces.
“It is an achievement for us that no major cases of poll violence in terms of deaths or bombings have taken place in West Bengal. We have tried our level best… deficiencies if any will be ironed out in future,” Agarwal said on Wednesday.
He highlighted extensive use of webcasting and said that no polling agent was placed outside booths during the election. In the first phase, he noted, there were no cases of agents being stopped, while in the second phase only a few such incidents were reported, marking a departure from earlier elections.
Security arrangements included a strict 100-metre perimeter around polling stations, with Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) instructed to ensure no unauthorised entry into the zone.
Comparing the current election with previous years, Agarwal said the improvement in law and order was significant. In 2021, 24 people were killed during the run-up to elections, along with more than 60 bombings and multiple injuries. In contrast, he said the 2026 election saw “no deaths, no bombings, and no large-scale violence.”
The police observer NK Mishra shared enforcement data, stating that 397 arms and 1,383 bombs were recovered during the election period. Authorities carried out 67,500 arrests and executed 25,000 warrants. On polling day, 19 arrests were recorded, while 687 preventive arrests were made. District-wise, Barrackpore reported 76 arrests and East Burdwan 74 arrests.
On repolling, Agarwal said complaints were received regarding “black tape stickers,” leading to a total of 77 booths being marked for repoll. Of these, 32 were in Falta, 13 in Bablahat, 29 in Diamond Harbour, and 3 in Budge Budge. He added that 23 cases have been verified so far, while the verification exercise is still ongoing. The repoll votes will be counted on May 2.
Addressing allegations regarding voting machines, Agarwal stated that the sanctity of EVMs had been questioned, with claims of tampering raised from these areas.
“Prima facie we have found 23 cases to be genuine. We are probing the other plaints,” Agarwal said.
Agarwal also added that the voter turnout had crossed 90 percent in both the phases.
“This has been a historic election in Terms of the record turnout that we have had in both phases,” Agarwal said.