The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement on April 12, 2016.

THE Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) is shocked by the manner in which the process of free and fair elections has been disrupted and undermined by miscreants backed by the ruling TMC in Bengal on the second day of polling,  that is April 11. 

The events of the second day of polling in West Bengal included attacks on the opposition, intimidation of voters through violence and denial of democratic rights to candidates by stopping their polling agents from being present in the polling booths.  What happened is a reflection of the failure to implement the assurances the EC itself had given to the West Bengal electorate. 

The media including the national electronic media have widely reported these incidents of violence and irregularity.  The PB urges the EC to ensure that the mandate bestowed on it by the Constitution is judiciously exercised to ensure free and fair poll in the remaining five phases covering 245 assembly constituencies in West Bengal. 

The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) congratulates political activists and people at large for determinedly facing such politics of terror and intimidation unleashed by the ruling TMC in the state.