State Election Commissioner Saurabh Kumar Das met West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday regarding upcoming municipal elections.
Das was also accompanied by Secretary of the Commission Nilanjan Sandilya.
"This was at the instance of Governor Dhankhar so as to ensure peaceful, orderly and fair polls in the upcoming local elections. State Election Commissioner Saurabh Kumar Das informed Governor Dhankhar that by the second week of March Grievance Management System would be put in place. A meeting of the State Commission with the District Magistrates is slated for March 04, 2020," an official release said.
Dhankhar emphasised that State Election Commission as a constitutional body is obligated to provide a level-playing field to all parties and candidates and ensure free and fair elections where voters exercise their valuable right to vote freely.
He said that all steps should be done to ensure that there is no violence and kind of scenario noticed in the Panchayat elections held in May 2018.
"Governor Dhankhar underlined that Constitutionally the State Election Commission under Article 243K has all the powers that Election Commission of India has under Article 324 of the Constitution," read the release.
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"This power invests it with the authority and competence to ensure that one party doesn't have an undue advantage over another just because it is in power," it said.
Governor Dhankhar called upon voters to exercise their right to vote fairly and fearlessly as casing a vote is fundamental to success and quality of democratic governance.