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Updated March 21st, 2021 at 18:44 IST

WB election: BJP urges EC to deploy more CAPF in sensitive booths for free & fair polling

BJP urged the Election Commission of India to deploy extra Central Armed Police Forces in sensitive booths in West Bengal for the upcoming Assembly polls. 

Reported by: Akhil Oka
BJP
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In an important development, BJP urged the Election Commission of India to deploy extra Central Armed Police Forces in sensitive booths in West Bengal for the upcoming Assembly polls. WB BJP vice president Pratap Banerjee addressed a letter to the state Chief Electoral Officer and the EC in this regard. Maintaining that free and fair election in the state will be possible only if the EC is able to instill a sense of security and safety, BJP stressed the need to prevent incidents of violence and rigging.

Moreover, it attached a list of sensitive booths in Assembly constituencies going to the polling in phase 1 and phase 2 where violence and electoral malpractices are apprehended. Requesting the EC to check poll-relation violence, the JP Nadda-led party opined that TMC and its goons must not be allowed to harass the voters of WB. Additionally, BJP contended that the presence of CAPF will help ensure free and fair polling. 

West Bengal Assembly election

Mamata Banerjee-led TMC had swept the 2016 Assembly polls by bagging 211 seats in the 294-member Assembly. Buoyed by its success in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls where it won 18 out of 42 parliamentary seats in WB, BJP has launched a fierce campaign to defeat TMC. Both Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president JP Nadda exuded confidence in the party winning more than 200 seats in the Assembly polls. The Congress-Left-ISF alliance is also in the poll fray.

In West Bengal, 294 seats are up for grabs and people will be able to cast their votes at 1,01,916 polling stations. As per the phases, the polling in the state will be conducted on March 27, April 1, April 6, April 10, April 17, April 22, April 26 and April 29. The counting of votes shall take place on May 2. 

Addressing a press conference on March 5, WB CM Mamata Banerjee announced the list of 291 TMC candidates while leaving three seats for the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha for the Assembly election. The list includes 50 women candidates, 79 Scheduled Caste candidates, 17 Scheduled Tribes candidates and 42 Muslim candidates. On the other hand, BJP has declared all its candidates barring for 11 seats so far which includes Suvendu Adhikari, Union Minister Babul Supriyo, three other Lok Sabha MPs, ex-nominated MP Swapan Dasgupta, Mukul Roy and Rahul Sinha. 

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Published March 21st, 2021 at 18:44 IST

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