Call it Bengal democracy's Last Mile Problem. The voter — having made up her mind — would be up against a range of uncertainties on D-Day before pressing her finger on the EVM machine. Scribes in Kolkata use many words to denote the uncertainties: plain intimidation, bogus voting, or scientific rigging. Press further and they would say the CPM practised it during the 34 years they were in power. And that it took the Trinamool Congress (TMC) only a year or two to perfect it. Figures speak for themselves. Barely two phases of polling have been completed in West Bengal's marathon six-phase affair. That's just 49 seats, but around a dozen deaths have been reported. The Election Commission has...
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