Preliminary report rules out deployment of Central Forces during KMC polls

Kolkata: The preliminary report in connection with the security arrangements for the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) elections have ruled out the deployment of Central Forces.

The report that was submitted before the State Election Commission (SEC) on Saturday has stated that there will be armed police personnel in every single booth and the deployment will be more in comparison to the 2015 civic body elections.

"We have received a report from the police administration regarding security for the KMC elections scheduled on December 19. A meeting will be held on Monday in presence of state Director General of Police and Commissioner of Police, Kolkata where the security aspect may be finalised. As of now, it can be assured that the deployment for the KMC elections this time will be more in comparison to last year," a seior State Election Commission official said.

According to sources, in the 2015 KMC elections there were 27,000 police personnel from Kolkata Police and another 5,000 from the state police during the elections.

The total count was 32,000 last year which may go up another 5,000 this year.

For adhering to Covid health protocols, the number of polling booths have gone up this year with 4,742 main booths and 385 auxiliary booths. The total number of voters this year are 40,48,352 and a maximum of 1,200 voters can cast their franchise in a single booth.