India, April 21 -- Roughly one in three households in West Bengal owns a motorcycle, according to the National Family Health Survey. There are tens of thousands of bike taxis registered in the greater Kolkata region alone. Yet, if the Election Commission of India (ECI) has its way, every genuine commuter, consumer, and delivery person - and their pillion riders - will be off the roads for 12 hours between 6pm and 6am, two days before every phase of polling in the state. The bizarre order apparently emanates from Bengal's culture of bike rallies that are often used as tools to project political dominance before voting day. In a state where political rallies have often descended into clashes, holding free and fair polls is rightly on top of...