Maharashtra polls: 18k personnel deployed in Gadchiroli to ensure peaceful elections

Out of a total of 972 polling booths in the district, 458 are located deep in the forest, in hilly areas and without any access roads

Gadchiroli: Conducting elections in the Maoist insurgency-affected Gadchiroli district in Maharashtra has always been a challenging task. Unlike 2019, the Maoists have not issued a boycott election call this time, but incidents like the recovery of three landmines on a bridge on Saturday, a day prior to home minister Amit Shah’s rally which was subsequently cancelled, exposes the challenges before the election commission and the district poll machinery.

Preparations underway for the elections in Gadchiroli district. Representative Image. (PIB)

Around 18,000 security personnel have been deployed in the district to ensure a peaceful election. They include 6,000 personnel from Gadchiroli police, five battalions or around 3,500 personnel from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), 17 companies or around 2,000 personnel from the State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) as well as personnel from the Border Security Force (BSF) and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), said Neelotpal, superintendent of police, Gadchiroli.

“We have deployed a fleet of 130 drones for surveillance, which are being monitored from a control room. We have also deployed two helicopters to evacuate injured polling staff or security personnel in case of an attack by the Maoists,” Neelotpal told HT.

Out of a total of 972 polling booths in the district, 458 are located deep in the forest, in hilly areas and without any access roads. Polling officials would be airdropped at police stations from where they would have to walk 15-20 km to reach the booths, said the police officer.

“The heli-dropping of polling staff has started from today. We are using five choppers from the Indian Air Force (IAF) to drop the staff at 62 different police stations. From there, they will travel on foot to the booths, accompanied by security personnel,” said Neelotpal. The number of security personnel accompanying polling staff could go up to 100 in sensitive areas, he added.

As per the schedule, polling parties would have to reach the booths by November 19. After completing the polling process on November 20, they would have to travel back on foot to the respective police stations, preferably on the same day.

Politically, the district is divided into three assembly constituencies – Gadchiroli, Aheri and Armori. In the 2019 elections, the BJP won two seats – Gadchiroli and Armori – while the undivided NCP bagged the Aheri seat. This time, BJP and Congress are engaged in a direct fight in Gadchiroli and Armori, while Aheri is witnessing a multi-corner fight.

In Gadchiroli, the BJP has denied a ticket to its two-term sitting MLA Deorao Holi, who had defeated Chanda Kodwate by a margin of over 35,000 votes in the 2019 polls. Instead, the party has fielded Milind Narote, who will take on Congress candidate Manohar Poreti. In Armori, the BJP has fielded its sitting MLA Krishna Gajbe against the Congress’ Ramdas Masram, a teacher by profession.

The Aheri assembly segment will see an intra-family clash between two factions of the NCP – while the Ajit Pawar-led NCP has fielded sitting MLA Dharamraobaba Atram, his daughter Bhagyashree is contesting on an NCP (SP) ticket. Two more candidates are also in the fray – they are former MLAs Raje Ambarish Atram and Deepak Atram, both contesting as independents.

On Sunday, two high profile rallies were scheduled in the district. While the rally by Shah was cancelled, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi addressed a public meeting at Wadsa, where she attacked prime minister Narendra Modi over his ‘Ek hain to safe hain’ slogan and his proximity with industrialist Gautam Adani.

“In the last eleven years of Modi rule, no one is safe in the country – be it farmers, women or youth. The only person safe in the country is industrialist Gautam Adani,” she said.

The electorate, meanwhile, hopes that the polls will usher in lasting peace and development. “Unlike earlier, the district has become a safe place now,” said Dr Amit Salve, a Gadchiroli resident and the additional district health officer. “We hope that it develops like any other district in the state.”

“The iron-ore mining project has been started, which is dramatically changing the face of the district,” said Aziz Nathani, who runs two schools and a hotel in Gadchiroli. “People have a notion that Gadchiroli is not safe, but the situation here is changing rapidly.”