Booths to be declared sensitive after candidates are named

The

Gujarat

police and the office of the Gujarat chief electoral officer (CEO) will identify whether a polling stations is ‘sensitive’, ‘vulnerable’ or ‘critical’ only after political parties have named their candidates for 2019

Lok Sabha

elections, voting for which will be held in Gujarat on April 23. This is a departure from 2014 Lok Sabha election, when such booths were identified before candidatures were announced.

Police sources said while the number of booths categorized as sensitive will likely rise up by 10% from the 46,000-odd identified in the 2014 election, the deployment of security personnel in the state will be unprecedented. Officials, however, refused to divulge the number of paramilitary companies to be deployed during the election.

Top officials said so far only the area and its topography was considered while declaring a constituency vulnerable or sensitive. "This time we are also studying the history of candidates, their financial condition and social status while declaring a constituency vulnerable, critical or sensitive," an official said.

Government sources said meetings between state election commission officials and state police officials appointed nodal officers for security are held regularly and a constant vigil is kept on movements of cash and jewellery and trafficking of liquor.

Some 563 flying squads, 378 video surveillance teams, 207 video monitoring teams and 26 accounting teams are working round-the-clock to curb the use of money and liquor in the election.