The Congress and BJP on Wednesday urged the Election Commission to deploy central forces in West Bengal from the date of notification of the Lok Sabha election to enable voters to freely exercise their franchise.
The ruling Trinamool Congress, however, said that the people would be able to cast their ballots peacefully in the Lok Sabha poll as they had done during the Assembly, Lok Sabha by-elections and panchayat poll held under its rule.
After meeting deputy election commissioner Vinod Zutshi during an all-party meeting in Kolkata, Congress leader Manas Bhunia told reporters that they had urged the EC to deploy central forces from the day when the election code of conduct come into force. Accusing its former ally TMC of unleashing terror and atrocities during last year's panchayat poll, he said that the EC should identify the officers working for the ruling party and exclude them from poll duty.
State BJP president Rahul Sinha also requested the Commission to deploy central forces throughout the state from the date of poll notification. CPI-M leader Rabin Deb while stating that they want a peaceful election urged the EC to see that the forces were deployed in time by the election observers.
TMC general secretary Mukul Roy, who attended the meeting, said that the people had cast their votes in a free and fair manner in all the Assembly and Lok Sabha by-polls in the state held so far under the party's rule as well as in the panchayat election.
He argued that mere levelling of allegations would not substantiate the claims of the opposition parties and added that in the coming Lok Sabha election too the people would exercise their franshise in a free and fair manner.
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