KOLKATA: Three days after the State Election Commission (SEC) issued a notification, not mentioning whether the central force will be deployed in polling booths, the Calcutta HC on Tuesday directed the state poll panel to deploy Central Armed Paramilitary Force (CAPF) personnel alongside their counterparts from the state in equal measure in each and every polling station during the upcoming rural polls on July 8.
During the course of the hearing, deputy solicitor general Billwadal Bhattacharya mentioned in his petition that as far as the strength of central forces which have been deployed is concerned, there will be nearly 65,000 active personnel. The state police force will be about 70,000 and the deployment will on a ratio of fifty-fifty will solve the issue.
The division bench of Chief Justice T. S. Shivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya upheld Bhattacharya’s submission. The opposition had demanded the deployment of central force personnel in all 61,636 booths and they welcomed the high court’s order.
With a total of 14 persons dead in the past 26 days since the announcement of panchayat elections in Bengal, the chief of West Bengal police said on Tuesday that there were “two to three” incidents of violence in the state and the police took stern action in every case.
“There were two or three incidents of violence in Bengal related to panchayat polls. We have instructions from authorities to swing into action and take stern action immediately after incidents of violence and police acted accordingly,” said Director General of Police (DGP) Manoj Malviya.