In the last phase of the six-phased Assembly elections in West Bengal, 14 constituencies in the Maoist-infested areas in West Midnapore, Purulia and Bankura will go to polls on Tuesday under unprecedented security arrangements. In these 14 constituencies, 26,57,434 voters will decide the fate of 97 candidates, including ministers like Susanta Ghosh, Rabilal Maitra and Debalina Hembram and PCPA leader Chhatradhar Mahato, who is close to the CPI(Maoist) and is now in jail custody.
“We have made very strong security arrangement to ensure that all voters can cast their franchise fearlessly. We are very confident of holding a complete free, fair and peaceful polling tomorrow,” state chief electoral officer Sunil Gupta said. The Election Commission (EC) has set up 3,534 polling stations of which 1,049 are critical ones. It has also identified 1,805 villages as vulnerable ones. If situation demands, the EC will also escort the voters who are being intimidated to the polling stations.
The EC has already deployed close to 660 companies of the Central paramilitary forces in 14 constituencies namely Nayagram, Gopiballavpur, Jhargram, Garbeta, Salboni, Midnapore and Binpur in West Midnapore; Bandwan, Balarampur, Baghmundi and Jaipur in Purulia; Ranibandh, Raipur and Taldangra in Bankura which will go to polls on Tuesday.