NEW DELHI: With voting compressed to only two phases in the Bihar Assembly polls, the government has gone for massive mobilisation of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) to address the Election Commission’s security and logistic concerns.
Officials said, with requisitions received from the Election Commission, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has moved 500 additional companies of CAPFs leading to a total deployment of over one lakh personnel to ensure free and fair polls in the state, which will take place on November 6 and 11.
They said that the deployment of all the troopers in Bihar will be completed by October 15, bringing the total to 1,000 companies (over one lakh personnel), which will remain stationed in the state for election duties.
The officials said that such a big number of CAPF personnel are being mobilised following an assessment of security concerns and also logistical constraints posed by the compressed two-phase schedule.
According to communication sent by the MHA to CAPFs, the officials said, the CRPF has been directed to contribute the largest number of 250 companies, followed by the BSF with 141, the CISF with 85 and the ITBP with 75.
The remaining 449 companies will come from the SSB and RPF, making this one of the most extensive deployments of Central forces ever witnessed during a state election. Each unit is being strategically positioned across Bihar’s 38 districts.