PATNA: Amidst apprehensions of violence as a result of poll boycott call given by Maoists, Bihar is gearing up for the six-phase assembly election commencing from October 21. Candidates with criminal background may also create disturbances during polls in some areas.
According to official sources, of the 243 assembly constituencies, 47 of them are in the 33 Maoist-hit districts, where the EC has decided to deploy central paramilitary force (CPMF) personnel and hold polling between 7 am and 3 pm.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) S Y Qureshi during his recent visit to Bihar had said that the CPMF and armed police force from other states would be deployed at each polling booths in the Maoist-hit districts.
“We have made adequate security arrangements in the Maoist-hit areas. The communication network has been strengthened with the availability of booth-wise landlines, mobiles, wireless phones and satellite phones,” Qureshi told reporters here recently.
“In case of any emergency, we have kept local runners at each booth to transmit immediate message to the nearest flying squad team,” Qureshi told the media.
“To protect the voters belonging to the weaker sections of society, a booth-wise vulnerable mapping has been done to keep a regular watch on local goons, criminals, rumour mongers and professional booth grabbers,” he said. The district election officers concerned have been asked to monitor the action of theses elements in villages.
It’s a fact that poll violence has, however, shown a declining trend in Bihar in recent years. In 1999, 76 persons had died during the Lok Sabha polls and 61 in the 2000 assembly polls.
EC’s former special observer K J Rao had a major impact on Bihar polls during the 2004 general election in Bihar. Nineteen people had died during the 2004 Lok Sabha polls and 27 in the 2005 assembly polls.
Not a single civilian was killed in poll violence in the Lok Sabha polls in 2009.
The EC has made elaborate arrangements to guard polling stations. Adequate forces will be deployed to secure strongrooms at the counting centres and at places where EVMs would be stored.
Read more: EC to use satphones during polls – The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/EC-to-use-satphones-during-polls-/articleshow/6621924.cms#ixzz10bX8wrvy