Tuesday evening is the deadline for tourists to be gone from Digha, Mandarmani, and the coastal resorts in Purba Medinipur. The Election Commission is increasing security as people vote on April 23rd and this order is meant to prevent disruptions at the polls. Hotels have been told they can’t allow people from outside the area to stay.
ECI directive clears tourists from Purba Medinipur
The order, which came from the chief electoral officer for West Bengal, applies to Digha, Mandarmani, Tajpur, Udaipur, and Shankarpur. It begins at 6pm on Tuesday and lasts until the voting is over on April 23rd.
Officials also say that political campaigners aren’t allowed to be in the area during those times. Doing so is a crime under Section 223 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and could result in a six to twelve month prison sentence.
Why the order was issued
A leading official explained that the aim is to prevent people from coming into the area as tourists to start trouble during the election. This coastal strip of West Bengal is very popular with visitors, making it a place that needs careful management of crowds during an election.
The authorities have said this is the first time anything like this has happened during a state election. It’s a 48-hour break in tourism over a surprisingly large area, including the hotels themselves.
Key elements of the order include the following.
– All tourists and non-residents must vacate by 6 pm Tuesday
– Hotels must not host non-residents of the district
– Political campaigners are barred from staying in the area
– Violations are punishable under BNS Section 223
Hotels and police move to enforce
On Monday night, police stations in Digha, Digha Mohana, and along the Mandarmani coast started making announcements using loudspeakers. Tourists were asked to be gone by Tuesday, and hotels were told not to let outsiders in.
All of these places are in the Ramnagar legislative assembly constituency, which is currently represented by Akhil Giri of the Trinamool Congress, who has been the assembly member three times.
Part of a wider security sweep
This is part of a bigger effort to enforce the rules before the first phase of the election, which includes 152 constituencies in north Bengal and some districts in south Bengal. Officials said they might bring in similar rules for other beach or tourist spots if security demands it.
It’s worth noting that both West Bengal and Tamil Nadu (which also vote on April 23rd) have a lot of coastline. Officials have said that eight districts in Bengal are being watched very closely, showing they are being much more strict with enforcing the rules.
Disciplinary action underscores tighter monitoring
And in a separate decision, the Election Commission has suspended three executive magistrates who were with a flying squad in Bhabanipur because they weren’t doing their jobs. Those officials are Suranjan Das, Satyaranjan Pal and Souvik Nandi.
The official notice says they were on duty from 9pm on April 17th to 7am on April 18th and were found just sitting outside Bhabanipur police station with no good reason during a surprise check by someone observing how money is being spent. A formal complaint was filed and led to their suspension.
Impact on tourism and voters
Essentially, this is stopping all tourism in a large holiday area for 48 hours. The goal is to make it less likely that there will be large groups of people and potential problems while people are voting.
The rules will be in effect from 6pm Tuesday until the voting is finished on April 23rd. Officials have said they may do the same thing in other areas that could cause issues in the following phases of the election, depending on how much security is needed.
