Kolkata, Sep 26 (IANS) West Bengal State Election Commission (WBSEC) will take a final call on security deployment for the forthcoming elections to seven urban civic bodies in the state only after receiving detailed law and order assessments from the respective district magistrates, sources in the Commission said on Saturday.
According to WBSEC sources, the reports submitted by district magistrates will play a key role in determining whether deployment of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) is necessary for the elections, which will cover two municipal corporations and five municipalities slated to go to polls later this year.
“Based on the law & order reports from the district magistrates, the Commission will decide whether CAPF deployment would be required at all for the polls and accordingly send security-related guidelines to the district administrative authorities concerned,” said a WBSEC source.
However, officials indicated that given the limited scale of the exercise, covering only seven urban civic bodies, the elections are likely to be conducted primarily with state police deployment. They expressed confidence that the polling process could be managed smoothly and peacefully without additional central forces.
The official added that the situation could change if any political party approaches the Calcutta High Court seeking CAPF deployment and the court issues specific directions in that regard. “In that case, the Commission will have to comply with the court’s order,” the source said.
The two municipal corporations scheduled to go to polls are Kolkata Municipal Corporation and Howrah Municipal Corporation. Elections will also be held in Haldia Municipality (East Midnapore), Bally Municipality (Howrah), Dhupguri Municipality (Jalpaiguri), Kalimpong Municipality (Kalimpong) and Kurseong Municipality (Darjeeling).
Voting is expected to take place at 6,301 polling booths across these seven civic bodies.
As per the Commission’s tentative schedule, notifications for the elections are likely to be issued on October 27 or 28, shortly after Durga Puja. Polling may be held on November 28 or 29, once the festive season concludes, while counting of votes and declaration of results are tentatively scheduled for December 2.
–IANS
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