Saturday, March 4 2006 17:33 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Bangalore: CPI-M today (Mar 04 2006) expressed its displeasure over the Election Commission's decision to go in for a staggered polling schedule spread over five days for West Bengal and termed it as "unprecedented."

"When the Election Commission accepted Tamil Nadu's plea for a day's poll schedule, why did it not accept that of West Bengal," CPI-M Politburo Member Sitaram Yechury asked at a press conference here.

On maintenance of law and order situation cited by the Election Commission for the five-day polling, he said "from our side there would not be any problem."

The Election Commission has adopted "a dual yardstick and it is not fair," Yechury charged.

He refused to accept the Election Commission stand on bogus voters list, saying in the list of about eight crore voters, few lakhs would not make much difference.

"It can't say it is bogus. What were they doing for the past five years. They should have taken up periodically revision of electoral rolls," he said.