IN PICTURES | As India votes for the 2019 Lok Sabha election, CRPF Jawans contribute to the biggest festival of democracy

While the country exercises its role in the celebration of the largest democracy in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections, a massive blanket of security has been laid out and CRPF Jawans deployed to aid aged voters to reach the booths. 

The official CRPF handle on twitter shared photographs of CRPF Jawans carrying, holding and supporting elderly voters till the poll booths to cast their votes. 

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Along with this security has been beefed up after Maoist ultras, like previous years, gave a call for a poll boycott, with posters and pamphlets found in some pockets of the Bastar constituency, and the threat of violence from them remains a concern, an official said.

"Over 50,000 state and Central forces were already stationed in the region to counter the Maoist threat. Now in view of the Lok Sabha polls, another 25,000 personnel, from paramilitary units like the CRPF and Border Security Force, have been brought in to guard the constituency," he said.

He said patrolling on the ground, as well as by drones keeping a hawk eye from above, is in place to track the movement of Naxals, especially in areas close to polling booths and camps of security forces, he said.

Standard operating procedures (SOPs) to sanitise sensitive areas in view of the general elections are in place, he added.

"The biggest challenge is to escort polling parties to their destination and bring them back safely," the official said.

Nitin Gadkari, Kiren Rijiju, VK Singh, Mahesh Sharma, Hansraj Ahir, Agatha Sangma, Mukul Sangma, Harish Rawat, Ajay Tamta, Jayant Chaudhary, Satyapal Singh, Nabam Tuki, Renuka Chowdary, Nama Nageswara Rao, Chirag Paswan, Asaduddin Owaisi are some of the key candidates contesting polls during Phase I.

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(With PTI inputs)