ECI seeks list of sensitive booths in each LS constituency from state

Kolkata: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has written to the state government seeking the list of sensitive booths in each Lok Sabha Constituency. The ECI has also sought the details if the number of sensitive booths has gone up compared to what it stood during Lok Sabha elections 2019.

All the District Magistrates (DM) will submit a report mentioning the list of sensitive booths and sensitive pockets. The ECI will determine the deployment of Central forces in each sensitive booth on the basis of the report that will be sent to the ECI by the state government. The ECI has already urged the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to deploy a maximum of 920 companies of CAPFs in Bengal during the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls.

The ECI has sought for the highest deployment of forces for Bengal followed by Jammu and Kashmir. Trinamool Congress (TMC) spokesperson Kunal Ghosh already said that the deployment of huge Central forces would hardly have any impact on the election result of Trinamool Congress and its performance. Ghosh had pointed out that there was a huge deployment of Central forces in Bengal in earlier elections as well but Trinamool Congress won.

Meanwhile, BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar on Wednesday demanded 7-phase Lok Sabha elections in Bengal.

Incidentally, the ECI may hire an air ambulance to ferry poll personnel as well as voters in case of an emergency during the Lok Sabha elections. This is for the first time the ECI is going to make an arrangement of an air ambulance during the Lok Sabha polls. In case of an emergency or if somebody is seriously injured in any violence, the victims may be airlifted. After Independence, this is probably for the first time the ECI is going to hire air ambulance for elections. The ECI has already written to the state government expressing its interest to hire an air ambulance. The ECI may hire air ambulance not only in Bengal but in other states as well which are going to a poll.

The state government hires an air ambulance every year during Ganga Sagar Mela to airlift seriously-ill pilgrims. This year, as many as 7 people were airlifted and taken to the city hospitals for treatment after they fell ill.