Kolkata: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has identified minority-dominated Murshidabad as the most sensitive among the districts in West Bengal that will be going for polls in the first phase of the state Assembly elections on April 23 and hence has decided to deploy maximum forces there.
Insiders from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) said that of the total of 2,407 companies of security forces to be deployed in the first-phase polling, as many as 316 companies (13 per cent) will be deployed in Murshidabad district alone.
Murshidabad, as an administrative district, has two separate police districts, namely Murshidabad Police District and Jangipur Police District. Of the 316 companies to be deployed in the administrative district of Murshidabad, 240 will be for the Murshidabad Police District, and the remaining 76 will be for the Jangipur Police.
“The area covered under the Murshidabad Police District is much larger than the Jangipur Police District, with the number of sensitive pockets being more, and hence the deployment of forces will be much higher there,” the insider explained.
East Midnapore, which is the native district of Suvendu Adhikari, the Leader of the opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, which is also going for polls in the first phase on April 23, will have the second-highest deployment of security forces at 273 companies (11.34 per cent), followed by West Midnapore at 271 companies (11.25 per cent).
The least deployment of Central forces will be in the hill district of Kalimpong, at just 21 companies.
The districts that will be going for polls in the first phase also include two Police Commissariats, namely Siliguri Metropolitan Police in Darjeeling district and Asansol – Durgapur Police Commissariat in West Burdwan district.
While 44 companies of forces will be deployed in case of Siliguri Metropolitan Police, 125 companies will be deployed for Asansol- Durgapur Police Commissionerate.
The ECI this time has decided that, besides the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), personnel from the India Reserve Battalion (IRB) and armed police wings from other states will be deployed for the two-phase polls in the state, in addition to the West Bengal Police.
(IANS)
