EC Tightens Security for Falta Repoll in West Bengal

Kolkata: The Election Commission has nearly doubled the security arrangements for the May 21 repoll in West Bengal's Falta Assembly constituency that was countermanded last month over allegations of large-scale EVM tampering, a senior poll panel official said on Wednesday.

According to an official at the state Chief Electoral Officer, eight Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) personnel, equivalent to one full section, will be deployed at each polling booth.

During the April 29 polling that was ultimately countermanded, only four personnel, or half a section, had been stationed at each booth, he added.

"The poll panel does not want to leave any room for irregularities this time. Security arrangements have therefore been significantly strengthened," an official of the poll panel told PTI.

Falta Assembly constituency has 285 polling booths, and around 35 companies of central forces will be deployed to ensure smooth voting, the official said, adding that deployment of security forces for the repoll would be nearly double that of the original polling day.

Additionally, 30 quick response teams will remain on standby to respond swiftly to any disturbance. "The idea is to ensure immediate intervention even in case of minor unrest," a senior election official said.

The poll panel has also intensified surveillance measures, he said. Two web cameras will be installed inside every polling booth and one outside, while live webcasting will cover the polling process and surrounding areas.

"Monitoring will be conducted from the offices of the District Election Officer (DEO) and the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO)," he said, adding that drone surveillance is also being considered for the repoll day.

"Three election observers have been assigned to supervise the repoll process," the officer stated.

Meanwhile, the state police have already initiated action ahead of the fresh polling exercise. "We have arrested several persons, including Falta Panchayat Samiti vice-chairman Saidul Khan," a senior officer of Bengal Police said.

On Tuesday, Trinamool Congress candidate Jahangir Khan declared that he would not contest the Thursday repoll. The TMC described Khan's decision as "personal" and not that of the party.

The BJP has fielded Debangshu Panda against Khan.

Tension has been high in the constituency since polling on April 29, when complaints surfaced from multiple booths alleging that perfume and adhesive tapes had been applied to EVMs.

The then special observer Subrata Gupta had personally visited the constituency and conducted a scrutiny, following which evidence of tampering was reportedly detected in at least 60 booths.

Apart from alleged EVM manipulation, scrutiny also revealed attempts to tamper with footage captured by web cameras installed at several polling stations.

Questions were subsequently raised over the role of booth-level officers, presiding officers, polling officials and even election observers.

Following the findings, the EC ordered repolling in all booths of the constituency.