The CPI(M) on Saturday said the Election Commission must ensure that people in West Bengal can cast their votes on their own in the Lok Sabha polls.

With the EC announcing seven-phase polling for the 42 seats in the state, CPI(M) central committee member Sujan Chakraborty said that it is not the number of phases or the number of security personnel, but the atmosphere for free and fair elections that matters the most.

"The Election Commission must ensure that people can cast their votes on their own," he told PTI.

Opposition parties, including the Left, had alleged poll-related violence and intimidation of voters during the 2021 assembly elections and the 2023 panchayat polls in West Bengal, pointing fingers at the ruling Trinamul Congress.

Chakraborty, who is the CPI(M) candidate in the Dum Dum Lok Sabha seat, said the earlier elections have shown that the number of phases of polling or the number of central forces being brought to the state does not matter unless proper confidence-building measures for the voters are in place.

The 2021 assembly polls were held in eight phases. The panchayat elections were held in one phase with the deployment of central forces on court orders.

"Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee used to seek polling in several phases in the state when she was in the opposition," the CPI(M) leader said.

The TMC had sought a single-phase election for the 42 seats in West Bengal.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.