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EC to deploy 80 companies of central forces for Bengal bypolls on Oct 30: Report
Of the 80 companies, 34 are of the Border Security Force (BSF), 18 of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), 10 of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), 10 of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), and the remaining eight of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).
Ahead of the bypolls to four constituencies of West Bengal on October 30, the Election Commission (EC) has decided to deploy at least 80 companies of central forces in the eastern Indian state, a senior official told news agency PTI on Wednesday. He added that as many as 27 companies were posted during the recently concluded Durga Puja – the biggest festival of West Bengal — and another 57 are en route.
Of the 80 companies, 34 are of the Border Security Force (BSF), 18 of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), 10 of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), 10 of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), and the remaining eight of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).
“We have plans to deploy at least 20 companies of central forces each in the four assembly constituencies for the upcoming bypoll,” the official was quoted as saying by PTI.
In the aftermath of the post-poll violence case in West Bengal, which sparked on May 2 when Trinamool Congress (TMC) was declared the winner of the Assembly elections, main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders have been demanding deployment of central forces for the upcoming bypolls in Gosaba, Shantipur, Dinhata and Khardah.
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On Tuesday, BJP MP Arjun Singh wrote a letter to the chief election officer of West Bengal, seeking additional security personnel from the central forces. Citing that the bypolls need to be conducted in a fair manner, Singh added that he cannot depend on the state police.
This comes after Ashok Mandal, BJP’s Dinhata candidate and Natabari party MLA Mihir Goswami were heckled on Tuesday in presence of party’s Jalpaiguri ML Jayanta Roy during their campaigning at Nayarhat, news agency PTI reported.
TMC supporters allegedly raised ‘go back’ slogans as the saffron party leaders reached the area. However, the situation was quickly brought under control by police.
Notably, on September 30 bypolls for three other constituencies of West Bengal were held, including Bhabanipur that was swept by chief minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee. The 66-year-old won 58,835 votes more than BJP candidate Priyanka Tibrewal. Banerjee won 85,263 votes against Tibrewal’s 26,428 votes and CPI(M) candidate Srijeeb Biswas’s 4,226 votes.
TMC also registered victories in Samserganj and Jangipur with its candidates Amirul Islam and Jakir Hossain, respectively.
