West Bengal Assembly elections | At all-party meet, BJP says it is against clubbing of poll dates

BJP leader Swapan Dasgupta, who represented the party in the meeting, said the party does not want any step that would affect the “democratic spirit”.

The BJP on Friday said it has told an all-party meeting called by the Chief Electoral Officer on the situation that it is against clubbing the next phases of West Bengal Assembly elections since that would be disadvantageous for voters and candidates of the seats that are yet to go to polls. BJP leader Swapan Dasgupta, who represented the party in the meeting, said the party does not want any step that would affect the “democratic spirit”. “We said that our party will abide by all protocols put in place by the Election Commission, and urged that no steps be taken that discriminates those voting in the next phases from those who have already exercised their franchise. We have not said anything about clubbing (of phases),... we feel that the elections will be held in eight phases,” Mr. Dasgupta told reporters after the meeting.