Phases of Bengal Assembly polls to depend on availability of central forces: EC official

The number of phases for the upcoming West Bengal Assembly elections will be decided based on the availability of central armed police forces, a senior official at the state chief electoral officer's office said on Thursday. The CEO's office is in favour of conducting the polls in a single phase and has sent the proposal to the Election Commission (EC), the official said, adding that hectic deliberations are currently underway at the poll panel headquarters in New Delhi to take a final decision on the matter. ''The number of phases for polling in West Bengal will be decided based on how many companies of central forces can be made available,'' the official told PTI, adding that EC officials are assessing the requirement and availability of forces. In the 2021 Assembly elections, around 1,100 companies of central forces were deployed in the state. The commission has directed the state administration to immediately identify sensitive polling booths and vulnerable areas, the official added. ''The EC has asked all districts to identify sensitive booths and areas. Only after receiving that list will the final decision on the number of phases be taken,'' he said. The entire exercise hinges on the number of sensitive and highly sensitive booths, the official added. While central forces are deployed at every polling station, additional personnel are required in sensitive areas to prevent disturbances, the official said. Sources claimed that although the identification of sensitive booths usually begins six months before the expiry of the Assembly's term, and sector officers are appointed around four months in advance, the process could not begin on time this year due to SIR. Now, with the SIR exercise nearing completion, the commission has initiated full-scale election preparations, sources said. According to preliminary discussions, the commission is considering holding the elections in three phases, one in north Bengal and two in south Bengal. According to the official, seven districts are under the lens in view of past incidents of electoral violence. They are Cooch Behar and Uttar Dinajpur in north Bengal, the two 24 Parganas, Malda, Murshidabad and Birbhum in south Bengal, he elaborated. About a month ago, the commission directed all districts to submit weekly law and order reports, which are being sent to Delhi. ''After receiving the figures of sensitive booths and areas from the state, the commission will compare them with the law and order reports submitted by the district magistrates. Based on that assessment, the final number of sensitive booths will be determined,'' a source said. The deployment of central forces and the number of polling phases will be decided accordingly, they added. ''Taking that as a benchmark, discussions with the Union Home Ministry regarding force deployment have already begun,'' he said.