India, April 13 -- Ariz Aftab was the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer when the panchayat elections in the state were conducted, rather, not allowed to be conducted in 2018.

New Delhi: The first phase of polling in West Bengal, which was marred by complaints of voter intimidation and booth capturing by goons of the state's ruling Trinamool Congress, has also led to aspersions being cast on the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of the state. Both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Communist Party (Marxists) have accused the CEO, Ariz Aftab, of posing hindrances to the free and fair conduct of elections, of refusing to allot adequate Central forces to the booths and of favouring Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress in every w...