Bengal polls: ECI deploys central forces at gates of private housing complexes with polling booths
Kolkata, April 29 (IANS) Following the instruction of the Election Commission of India (ECI) at the last moment, central forces personnel have been deployed at the entry-gates of the high-rise buildings and housing complexes where temporary polling booths have been set up this time for the second phase of Assembly polls for 142 constituencies in West Bengal, on Wednesday.
It is learnt that the instructions on this count were given to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Manoj Kumar Agarwal, on Tuesday night, both the West Bengal Director General of Police, Siddh Nath Gupta, and to the Kolkata Police Commissioner, Ajay Nand.
An insider from the CEO’s office said that Agarwal has not only ordered that central security forces would be stationed at the gates of high-rise buildings and every large housing complex with polling booths inside, but also instructed that the forces personnel present there should be equipped with public address systems to continuously encourage voters in these complexes to come out to vote without fear.
In the communiqué to both Gupta and Nand, the CEO directed the implementation of the order of the deployment of central forces at the entry-gates of the high-rise buildings and housing complexes where temporary polling booths have been set up on an urgent and emergency basis.
A message has also been communicated to the voters from the CEO’s office that the ECI is determined to ensure free, fair and violence-free polls this time and also to ensure that the Commission is ready to provide any assistance to the voters.
These high-rise buildings where temporary polling booths have been set up are mainly in the state capital, Kolkata, and its three adjacent districts of North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas and Howrah.
Apart from Kolkata, the six districts where polling is being held in the second phase on Wednesday are North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Hooghly, Howrah, Nadia and East Burdwan.
The second phase of the Assembly polls is being conducted under unprecedented security cover, with the deployment of 2,407 companies of central forces, including Central Armed Police Forces, the India Reserve Battalion, and personnel from armed police wings of other states, in addition to personnel from West Bengal Police and Kolkata Police.
Webcasting is being conducted in all polling stations.
–IANS
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