Election commission agrees to organise West Bengal polls
But providing security force for the polls has become a major issue
Kolkata: After a long battle lasting nine months, the State Election Commission (SEC) has finally agreed to hold the Panchayat (village council) polls according to the West Bengal government’s directive.
Speaking to reporters, state election commissioner, Mira Pandey, said: “The commission will announce the notification for the polls by this week.”
Sources indicate that the SEC had to soften its stand or else it would have been seen to be violating the order of the division bench of Calcutta High Court, which has ordered the poll process to be completed by July 15.
“If we have to organise the first phase of polling on July 2, then the notification has to be given within June 3, or else polls cannot be completed by the deadline set by the court. The commission is not willing to be seen in contempt of court,” said an official of the SEC.
The SEC is still unhappy with the distribution of districts in which the first phase will see nine districts go to the polls with four districts each in the remaining two phases. But sources indicate that it will be forced to accept the government prescription, considering the timeline set by the court.
However, providing security for the poll process has become a major headache for the government. According to the court directive, the polling booths have been classified into four categories and the state has to provide security for them. For highly sensitive polling stations, there has to be two armed police with two constables. For sensitive booths, two armed policemen, and for less sensitive and ordinary booths, one armed policeman.
According to the government’s own evaluation, 1,200 companies or 120,000 armed police personnel are required to organise the polls on July 2, when nine districts go to the polls. But the state only has 45,000 armed policemen and other states have confirmed that they can only spare 15,000 more officers. The state government officials are unsure how to overcome this shortfall of 60,000.
“The chief minister doesn’t want to bring in central police force, and at the same time other states are unwilling to spare its forces for the elections. We really don’t know how to overcome this impasse,” said an official of the state government.
The SEC is to write to the state government to ask whether it is in a position to provide adequate security for the poll process as directed by the court. “We will have to organise the polls in a free and fair manner, where people are able to cast their franchise without any fear or provocation. For that, adequate security measures are required or else the district allocation has to be changed,” said another official of the SEC.
