Daijiworld Media Network - Kolkata
Kolkata, Mar 2: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has outlined an extensive advance deployment plan for 480 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) across West Bengal, even before the announcement of Assembly election dates.
According to the plan, 240 companies were deployed on March 1, while the remaining 240 are scheduled to be positioned by March 10. The move comes ahead of the formal declaration of the poll schedule and the enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct.
District-wise allocation shows the highest concentration of forces in North 24 Parganas with 58 companies. Murshidabad will receive 35 companies, South 24 Parganas 33, Kolkata 30, and East Midnapore 28. Notably, North 24 Parganas, Murshidabad, and South 24 Parganas share borders with Bangladesh, with Murshidabad also being a minority-dominated district. East Midnapore, meanwhile, is the home district of Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari.
Hooghly district has been allotted 27 companies, followed by 25 in East Burdwan and 22 in Nadia. Howrah and Birbhum will each see 21 companies deployed, while Purulia and West Midnapore have been assigned 20 companies each. North Dinajpur will get 19 companies, Malda 18, West Burdwan 17, Darjeeling 16, and Cooch Behar 15.
Further allocations include 13 companies for Bankura and 11 for Jhargram. South Dinajpur and Jalpaiguri will receive 10 companies each, while Alipurduar and Kalimpong will see the smallest deployments at seven and four companies respectively.
As per guidelines issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs, each CAPF company comprises at least 72 personnel. The deployment includes personnel drawn from all five central forces — Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB). The largest share of personnel will come from the CRPF and BSF, with the CRPF also tasked with coordinating the overall movement and deployment.
Political observers describe the scale and timing of this advance deployment as unusual, noting that such a substantial mobilisation of central forces prior to the announcement of polling dates is rarely witnessed in the state.