To eliminate the long-standing complaints of booth jamming and proxy voting in West Bengal, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced a revolutionary step. Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, during his Bengal visit, sent a clear message: any booth found with a non-functional or tampered CCTV camera will immediately go for a re-poll.

Acutely aware of past tactics where miscreants used chewing gum or physical damage to blind cameras, the ECI has made web-casting and CCTV mandatory both inside and outside polling stations. “If we find that a camera has been disabled, we will not hesitate to order a re-poll instantly,” Gyanesh Kumar asserted. He further clarified that if violence is detected through live surveillance even outside the booth, the Commission will intervene directly from Delhi. This strict “Re-poll Policy” is seen as a major move to ensure a fear-free and transparent 2026 Assembly Election in the state.