The Election Commission of India has deployed 967 companies of Central armed police forces (CAPF) for polling across nine constituencies in West Bengal in the seventh and final phase of the Lok Sabha election on June 1. The State police is also deploying 33,292 personnel in these constituencies, making this the highest deployment of security forces for a single phase of polling in the State during this election.
The highest concentration of the Central forces — 246 CAPF companies — are being deployed in the Kolkata police jurisdiction, followed by 160 companies in the Baruipur police district, 116 in the Basirhat police district, 110 in the Diamond Harbour police district, and 114 in the Sundarban police district.
Polling will take place in the State capital, its suburbs, and the Sundarbans, in the nine constituencies of Kolkata Dakshin and Kolkata Uttar, Dum Dum, Barasat, Diamond Harbour, Jadavpur, Basirhat, Joynagar, and Mathurapur.
There are 1.63 crore voters — 83.19 lakh men, 80.20 lakh women, and 538 third-gender people — eligible to exercise their franchise in 17,470 polling stations. There are 124 candidates in the fray in this phase.
TMC vs ISF clashes
On the eve of polling, violence erupted at Bhangar in the South 24 Parganas district, which falls under the Jadavpur Lok Sabha seat, with clashes breaking out between Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Indian Secular Front (ISF) supporters. Five TMC supporters were injured in the violence that took place as party workers returned home on Thursday night.
ISF MLA Nawsad Siddique, however, dismissed the allegations, claiming that it was TMC workers who had hurled bombs at ISF supporters, though it was TMC supporters who were injured in the incident. Two ISF supporters were arrested by the police in connection with the violence.
A day earlier, there were reports of supporters of Saukat Mollah, the TMC MLA from Canning Purba, allegedly hurling bombs at ISF workers. The Election Commission has directed Mr. Mollah not to step out of his Canning Purba constituency on polling day.
As Kolkata and the adjoining areas head to the polls, the region witnessed pre-monsoon showers. In remote areas of the Sundarbans, election officials faced difficulties in reaching polling stations. In some areas, there was water logging outside polling booths. The weather forecast for June 1 includes generally cloudy skies with rain or thunder showers.
