Biswabrata Goswami
KRISHNAGAR, 15 MARCH: With the Election Commission announcing the schedule for the upcoming West Bengal Assembly elections, the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) has come into immediate effect in Nadia district, triggering a full-scale administrative and security mobilisation aimed at ensuring free, fair and peaceful polling.
District Magistrate and District Election Officer of Nadia, Mr Nikhil Nirmal on Sunday said that surveillance and enforcement mechanisms, including Flying Squads and Static Surveillance Teams (FSTs and SSTs), have already been activated across the district to monitor violations and maintain electoral integrity from day one.
Addressing the media, Mr Nirmal asserted that the administration has completed extensive preparations, focusing on voter convenience, security deployment, and technological surveillance at polling stations. “All necessary arrangements have been put in place to conduct peaceful elections. I urge voters to participate actively and exercise their democratic right,” the official said.
Nadia will go to the polls in the second phase of the state elections, with polling scheduled for 29 April. According to the notified timeline, the gazette notification will be issued on 2 April, marking the start of nomination filing, while 9 April has been fixed as the last date for submission of nominations. Scrutiny will take place on 10 April, followed by withdrawal of candidature until 13 April. Counting of votes is slated for 4 May, with the election process to conclude thereafter.
The district comprises 17 Assembly constituencies and 4,686 polling stations, making it one of the larger electoral exercises in the state. Officials identified 273 polling stations as critical, where heightened security arrangements and confidence-building measures will be undertaken. Vulnerability mapping is still underway, and the number may increase, authorities said.
To strengthen security preparedness, 18 companies of Central Armed Police Forces have already reached the district. The administration is also planning auxiliary polling stations for booths with more than 1,200 voters, in line with Election Commission guidelines, to ease crowding and ensure smooth voting.
Meanwhile, the number of women-managed polling booths will be finalised after assessing the availability of female polling personnel.
With nearly 2.67 lakh voters currently under adjudication and detailed booth-wise planning underway, district officials emphasised that preparations will intensify in the coming weeks to ensure orderly and transparent conduct of the electoral process.
