BHUBANESWAR: With Left Wing Extremists out to disrupt the ensuing panchayat polls, the Odisha Government appears to be in a spot of bother as the Centre is seeking withdrawal of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) deployed in the State.
While most of the Central forces are posted in the Left Wing Extremism (LWE)-hit districts, the Central Government has been insisting on withdrawal of a large unit for mobilisation during the Assembly polls in the five States.
Sources said the Home Ministry wanted withdrawal of 18 companies but after strong resistance from Odisha Police, the demand has now come down to four companies. The State is, however, unwilling to even let go of it.
Currently, there are 80 companies of CAPF deployed in Maoist-affected districts of the State. In fact, during 2014 Assembly elections, the State was sanctioned 146 companies of Central forces of which 96 companies were mobilised in LWE-hit areas. Later, 16 companies were taken off.
While the State Government has been demanding two battalions for cut-off areas of Malkangiri to be inducted from Andhra Pradesh side to stabilise the region for some time, the Centre is not ready to accept the demand on the grounds that Odisha has done well to tackle the Maoists and can manage with the existing resources. If what happened in the cut-off areas on Friday is any early indication, this year’s three-tier panchayat polls could get trickier for Odisha Government.
This time, the three-tier panchayat polls will be held across 92,000 polling booths in five phases, which means there would be no time to redeploy security forces from one place to another given the fact that there is just one day’s gap between the poll dates.
In 2014 General Elections, there were 37,000 polling booths and the election was held in two phases with a seven-day gap. That gave sufficient time to the State Police for mobilising forces which is not the case this time around.
The last panchayat polls in 2012 was a rather low-key affair but this time, the political scenario has been charged up with BJP appearing resurgent in the State.
Congress, for all its internal bickering, has remained a force and commands a respectable share in the votes. This means polling would be far more competitive than it was five years back. The nomination process is just mid-way in all 8,601 panchayat headquarters and 314 blocks.
“When the polling dates draw close, mobilisation would build up and so will the frenzy. Keeping the elections peaceful in LWE-affected areas would be a primary challenge for the State Government,’’ said sources. Interestingly, after the 2014 General Elections, the Centre provided 11 extra battalions of CAPF to Chhattisgarh. Jharkhand was also given more units. But Odisha’s sanctions saw a cut.