EC to monitor deployment of central forces in Bengal

Kolkata: The Election Commission has indicated that it will “closely coordinate” with the Bengal government to thr-ash out an effective mechanism for deployment of central forces during polls. The EC is also set to ban bike rallies and has kept civic and green police out of poll management.

Sources said the panel would monitor deployment patterns and ensure optimum use of central forces. “There is always an allegation that central forces are not properly used. The local administration has to work in close coordination with EC and central agencies regarding deployment,” a senior EC official said.

The EC on Friday reviewed incidents of political violence in the state over the past six months as a step to ensure free and fair elections. “The SPs gave presentations in this regard. We will send observers after elections are announced. We will ask observers to keep watch on violence-prone areas,” chief election commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora said.

Arora was critical about the use of civic and green police — the subsidiary law enforcing outfit constituted by the state — to negotiate a shortfall of the police force in the state. “The civic police or green police were created by executive action and not by legislative backing. We believe that their presence anywhere in the scene can be detrimental to conducting free and fair polls. At the meeting with the chief secretary, home secretary and DGP, we have taken a firm assurance that no civic police or green police will be present,” he said.

The CEC didn’t take cognisance of a Trinamool complaint against the BSF that said the central force was acting on behalf of a political party in bordering villages of Bengal. Calling the BSF “one of the finest forces” in the country, Arora said central forces would work in “close coordination” with state police.

Arora termed Trinamool leader Partha Chatterjee’s complaint against the BJP as “unfortunate”. He also ruled out Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh’s complaint that Rohingyas had made their way to the voter list.

The CEC then dealt with a complaint about “lack of coordination” between stakeholders in the poll process. “There is a review meeting tomorrow (Saturday). We will examine the reports. We promise coordination,” Arora said at a news meet on Friday at the end of the EC full bench’s three-day Bengal visit. State electoral officer Ariz Aftab will attend the meeting in Delhi.