As the Election Commission of India (ECI) moves to deploy 480 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) in West Bengal ahead of the Assembly elections, state Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay asserted that the ruling Trinamool Congress is "fully prepared and unfazed by the development."
Speaking to the ANI, Chattopadhyay said, "Mamata Banerjee assigned responsibility to everyone... Nothing will happen this time... They sent a lot of people from the force earlier, too."
The ECI has decided to station CAPF personnel in the poll-bound state beginning March 1, 2026, even before formally announcing the election schedule. Around 480 companies will be deployed in two phases by March 10. In the first phase, nearly 240 companies will arrive on March 1, followed by another 240 companies on March 10.
Meanwhile, the West Bengal government on February 24, welcomed the Supreme Court's decision to permit the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court to deploy additional civil judges with three years of experience and, if required, seek assistance from the Chief Justices of Jharkhand and Odisha for verifying objections under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter rolls in the state.
The directions were issued by a bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant after the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court flagged a shortage of officers to verify over 50 lakh objections under the 'Logical Discrepancy' category within the existing timeframe.
The High Court had noted that even 250 judicial officers would require approximately 80 days to complete the verification. The TMC government in the state, in a press release, said that in a significant development before the Supreme Court today, the voters of West Bengal secured critical clarifications and directions safeguarding the rights of eligible electors in the ongoing SIR process. (ANI)
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
