EC Makes Special Arrangements For 4 Booths On Other Side Of Indo-Bangla Border

The Election Commission has made special arrangements for these four booths. The gates will be open for one hour on Friday for the voters who are on the other side of the fence. 

TV Bharat, Jalpaiguri (West Bengal), 17 April 2024 : Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar will go to polls on April 19 in the first phase of the Lok Sabha election. There are four election booths across the barbed wire border of the India-Bangladesh border belonging to the Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri districts.

The Election Commission has made special arrangements for these four booths. The gates will be open for one hour on Friday for the voters who are on the other side of the fence. The Lok Sabha constituencies of Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar have large areas bordering the international Indo-Bangladesh border.

The movement of vehicles and people from the two countries has already been stopped through the international checkposts on the India-Bangladesh and India-Bhutan borders due to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Jalpaiguri District Magistrate Shama Parveen said, "We have held a meeting with the Bhutan administration for the polls. We will follow whatever rules are there. The international border of the two countries will be closed before the polls. The Bhutan side will be watched by the SSB (Sashastra Seema Bal) and the India-Bangladesh side will be fully watched by the BSF (Border Security Force)."

"Our international border has four-naka checking points too. Besides, there are four booths in our district which are on the other side of the barbed wire. As a result, the BSF will open the gate one hour before the start of voting,” added Parveen.

Jalpaiguri district has the India-Bhutan border on one side and the India-Bangladesh border on the other. The India-Bhutan border stretch is 44 km while the India-Bangladesh border is 94 km. The Bhutan Gate SSB provides security at Nagarakata, Chamurchi area under the Jalpaiguri district. Security has already been tightened there.

On the other hand, under the security of BSF on the India-Bangladesh border security has been increased at all 52 border outposts in the Jalpaiguri sector. The barbed wire zone has a seamless security system. The international check post at Banglabandha in Jalpaiguri district and Changrabandha in Cooch Behar district has stopped travel between the two countries.

Besides, border checking is being done with the help of BSF on the India-Bangladesh border. The India-Bhutan border gate in the Alipurduar district has already been closed. Once the polls are over on Friday, the communication between India-Bhutan and India-Bangladesh will be re-established.