 "MHA offers to deploy 337 companies of central forces for WB panchayat polls")
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Thursday offered to deploy 337 companies of central forces in West Bengal after the State Election Commission (SEC) made a request for 822 companies for the upcoming panchayat polls.
On Wednesday, the Calcutta High Court had taken exception to the SEC demanding 22 paramilitary companies as against 825 companies deployed in 2013.
The division bench of Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam and Justice Uday Kumar said that the SEC has to deploy central forces and it cannot be less than what was used in 2013, according to a report in The Indian Express.
The High Court said, “The State Election Commission shall within 24 hours requisition sufficient number of central forces to be deployed to all the districts and the number of companies/battalion which are to be requisitioned shall be not less than the forces which was requisitioned for the 2013 election and it has to be definitely more than the same as the number of districts have increased and the electorate would have definitely increased between 2013 and 2023, in these ten years.”
The court stated that the deployment of forces from other states “to be in place on the date of polling will not yield the desired result”, according to the Indian Express report.
The court said, “Therefore, de hors the number of police forces which may have been requisitioned from other states, the State Election Commission shall independently assess the requirement and as observed earlier, the assessment should be honest.”
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West Bengal has witnessed a number of violent incidents since June 9, when the panchayat polls were announced in the state.
The elections will be held on July 8.