The state chief election officer asked the Alipurduar district magistrate to identify auxiliary poll stations near existing ones with over 1,000 voters in Falakata Assembly seat.

The seat is vacant after TMC MLA Anil Adhikary’s death, warranting a bypoll, tough to execute amid the pandemic.

The ECI had asked state poll chiefs to identify auxiliary polling stations for poll stations with over 1,000 voters to maintain social distance.

“A letter from the CEO has reached to the administration where it has been mentioned that by July 31, a proposal should be made ready for the constituency for creation of auxiliary polling stations and should be sent to the EC for approval,” said a source in the district administration.

According to sources, as per the electoral roll of 2020, there are 95 such polling stations in the constituency – 88 in Falakata block and seven in Alipurduar I block – where the number of voters is more than 1,000. Here, auxiliary polling stations need to be created.

In the letter, the CEO has mentioned that the administration should consult representatives of political parties on the issue and on the by-election as a whole.

“Accordingly, we will hold an all-party meeting in Falakata on Thursday. Also, the district magistrate will hold a similar meeting later to know the opinions of political parties,” said Supratik Majumder, BDO, Falakata.

Representatives of political parties, when asked on the by-poll, said they would urge the administration to see that it is deferred, keeping in mind the steady rise in the number of Covid-19 cases in Falakata and in Alipurduar district as a whole.

“As of now, our first priority is to save people from the pandemic. At a time when the number of cases is increasing every day, we believe it is tough to conduct the elections by maintaining all the health safety protocols,” said Mridul Goswami, the district Trinamul chief.

Ganga Prasad Sharma, the district BJP president of Alipurduar, spoke in similar terms.

“We want the election commission to defer the bypoll in Falakata. This is not an appropriate time for an election as more and more people are getting infected with Covid 19 every day,” he said.