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40 poll booths in Shaheen Bagh deemed ‘critical’ by election commission
New Delhi
New Delhi
In light of the ongoing protests — that entered into its 52nd day on Wednesday — against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the possibility of National Register of Citizens (NRC) in south east Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh, all 40 polling booths in the area have been categorised as ‘critical’ by the Delhi election office.
“We are ensuring that there is no fear among voters at Shaheen Bagh. The police are alert and so are paramilitary forces so that no untoward incidents take place during the polls,” said Ranbir Singh, chief electoral officer, Delhi. He further said that security personnel will carry out marches and patrolling in the area to boost confidence of the voters.
The chief electoral officer also said that he had paid a visit to Shaheen Bagh in the last few days and said at present there were no hurdles in the area against elections taking place smoothly.
Hundreds of people, mostly women and children, have been protesting since December 15 at Shaheen Bagh against the CAA and possibility of NRC. Last week, a man had fired two rounds near the protest site, which has become the epicentre of protests across India. While no injuries were reported in the incident, security was tightened at the location on orders of Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal.
There are 13,751 polling booths set up at 2,688 locations in Delhi. Out of these, 3,704 booths are categorised as critical in 516 locations.
The chief electoral officer explained that paramilitary force will be deployed at each of the polling booths, along with regular police deployment. Further, web casting would be carried out at critical booths through a surveillance room in the CEO’s office.
The legislative assembly elections in Delhi are scheduled to be held on Saturday, February 8. Emphasising on the security measures to be undertaken on the day of polling, Singh said that 1,00,024 security personnel would be deployed across the city, which would include 38,874 Delhi Police and 19,000 Home Guards.
The chief electoral officer also said that ahead of the polls during the period of Model Code of Conduct (MCC), the law and enforcement agencies had made total seizures worth nearly Rs 51 crore, which includes cash, liquor, drugs, precious metals and freebies.
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