Phase V: Seven Parliamentary seats to go to polls today in state
Kolkata: As many as 88 candidates, including 14 women, are in the fray for the fifth phase polls in Bengal on Monday when seven Parliamentary constituencies (PCs) – Bongaon, Barrackpore, Howrah, Uluberia, Serampore, Hooghly and Arambagh are going for polls.
The Election Commission (EC) has deployed over 60,000 Central Forces (613 companies) and 25,590 state forces. This is the highest deployment so far in the elections held in the state. The strong security deployment comes in the wake of vulnerability reports from the constituencies revealing that 7,711 out of 13,481 polling stations, accounting over 57 per cent of the booths, are classified as sensitive. There will be almost 7.8 CAPF personnel per polling premise.
Among the seven PCs going for polls, four were won by Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Howrah, Uluberia, Serampore and Arambag were wrested by BJP while the other three Hooghly, Bongaon and Barrackpore were bagged by the BJP.
Over 1.25 crore voters, including over 63.51 lakh males and 61.72 lakh females, will exercise their franchise in the 5th phase. The first time electors, over 2.60 lakh, will be a deciding factor in this phase of polls. The total number of 85 plus electors in this phase stands at 80,775 with 571 of them above 100 years. A total of 11973 voters, including persons, above 85 years and persons with disabilities (PWD) have availed home voting facilities and have already cast their votes. Out of 13,481 polling stations, 1,460 will be manned by only female polling personnel and two by PWD personnel. There will be 93 model polling stations during this phase — the highest in the elections so far. In Hooghly and Arambagh alone, the number of sensitive booths is more than 80 per cent.
“Extensive arrangements have been made to make the polls peaceful,” a senior official at the CEO office said.
The commission’s data indicates in Hooghly, 1,787 out of 2,048 polling stations (approximately 87.25 per cent) are labelled as sensitive while in Arambagh, 1,770 out of 2,078 polling stations (approximately 85.17 per cent) hold this classification. The poll watchdog has deployed a staggering 198 Central Force companies to oversee security in these two areas.
Approximately 67.19 per cent of polling stations in Barrackpore and 59.53 per cent in Serampore are sensitive, prompting the deployment
of 56 and 60 companies of the Central Forces respectively. There will be 86 companies for Bongaon, 133 companies for Uluberia and 80 companies for Howrah Parliamentary constituencies.
Additionally, during the fifth phase there will be over 1,000 Quick Response Teams (QRTs) and High Radio Flying Squads (HRFS) for immediate intervention in case of any disturbances. The QRTs will utilise GPS-installed vehicles for efficient tracking and rapid deployment. There will be webcasting in 100 per cent of the booths.
