In Big Move, Poll Body Stations Over 25,000 Central Troops In Bengal

Ahead of the seven-phase Lok Sabha election in West Bengal, the Election Commission of India (EC) has decided to rush 100 additional companies of central paramilitary forces to the state. This is in addition to the 177 companies earlier earmarked for the state, which has reported incidents of political violence over the past several years.

Of the 177 companies deployed earlier, 33 are from CRPF, 97 from BSF, 17 from CISF, 10 from ITBP, 15 from SSB and 5 from RPF. The 100 additional companies comprise 55 from CRPF and 45 from BSF. These include troops currently posted in Manipur, which was hit by ethnic violence last year. Each company has a sanctioned strength of 100 personnel. This means that at least 25,000 paramilitary personnel will be in Bengal to ensure a peaceful election.

Paramilitary personnel are deployed to hold exercises such as area domination to build confidence among voters so that free and fair elections can be ensured.

The fresh deployment comes days after a team of National Investigation Agency (NIA) was attacked by a mob when it went to Bhupatinagar in Purba Medinipur district to probe a 2022 blast that killed three people. Earlier, in January, a team of the Enforcement Directorate had come under attack when it visited Sandeshkhali village to probe corruption allegations against now expelled Trinamool strongman Sheikh Shahjahan.

Leader of the Opposition in Bengal Assembly, BJP's Suvendu Adhikari, has said he will urge Governor CV Ananda Bose and top officials to ensure that central forces stay in Bengal even after the Model Code of Conduct in lifted. "Central forces should stay here after the MCC is lifted, for the next three months, because post-poll violence happened last time," he said.

The Trinamool, meanwhile, has accused the ruling BJP of using central agencies to target its leaders ahead of the polls. Senior Trinamool leaders, including MPs Derek O'Brien, Sagarika Ghose and Dola Sen, were detained last night for protesting outside the poll body's Delhi office in demand that chiefs of CBI, NIA, ED and Income Tax department be changed. The Trinamool has urged the EC to ensure a level-playing field for the elections.

In the 2019 election, the BJP had registered a stellar show in Bengal, with its tally jumping from 2 in 2014 to 18. The party emerged No. 2 in Bengal, finishing closely after Trinamool, which won 22 seats. This year, BJP is pushing hard to better its show. The Trinamool, on the other hand, aims to restrict the BJP to single digits this time.