India, Feb. 27 -- Intelligence Bureau had alerted the Election Commission and the Ministry of Home Affairs that firearms and country-made bombs would be used widely in the Assembly elections in the state, since these were being made and procured locally.

New Delhi: The Election Commission (EC) took into account the "imminent" possibility of large-scale poll violence across West Bengal, as per inputs gathered from multiple agencies, while deciding to spread out the Assembly elections in the state across an unprecedented eight phases. The state has 294 Assembly seats, and thus Central forces and election observers will keep an eye on an average of 37 Assembly seats in every phase.

In the 2016 polls, the elections were conducted in six pha...