EC likely to send 125 companies of CRPF for 1st phase of Lok Sabha elections in state

MP | 15 March 2019 | Kolkata: The Election Commission is likely to send 125 companies of Central forces for the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections in Bengal, in which Alipurduar and Cooch Behar will be going to polls. A source in the EC said that 15 out of the 125 companies will be kept as reserve and will be used for manning the counting centres.

"The forces for the first leg of the election will come in two or three phases. The first batch of the jawans will come in the first week of April and will be used for the purpose of area domination and confidence building of the voters," a source in the EC said.

The source maintained that the deployment pattern of the 2014 elections will be followed. There will be two CRPF jawans in a polling station with a single booth, three in polling stations with two booths and five in those with more than two booths.

"One company of the forces will be allocated for each Assembly constituency, dedicated for flying squad and patrolling purpose," he added. It may be mentioned that the two parliamentary constituencies have 3,844 booths spread over 3,002 polling premises.

Meanwhile, 10 companies of CRPF will reach the state on Friday, who will be pressed into action in the pockets where there have been disturbances in the Panchayat polls.

As per sources in the office of the Chief Electoral Officer of Bengal, the forces will be deployed in Basanti and Kultali in South 24-Parganas, Deganga in North 24-Parganas, the bordering areas of Malda, Murshidabad, East Midnapore, Birbhum and Asansol in West Burdwan. They will conduct route march as a measure of confidence building among the voters.

A high-level team from ECI led by Deputy Election Commissioner Sudip Jain is expected to reach Bengal on Saturday to take stock of poll-preparedness across the state. The delegation will hold a meeting with senior officials from the CEO's office, police superintendents from districts and the commissioners of various commissionerates. The team will also meet the political parties on Saturday.

The CEO's office in the state will be deploying six divisional commissioners as observers to take measures towards accessibility in the elections.

Till date, the CEO Bengal office has received 351 complaints in connection with violation of the model code of conduct. The complaints have been lodged through the cVIGIL app and National Grievance Service Portal.