The Election Commission of India (ECI) has decided to place the operational deployment of both central and local police forces under its supervision during the upcoming West Bengal assembly elections.
Police observers appointed by the commission will now determine the deployment of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) and state police personnel, significantly reducing the role of district administration and local police leadership.
The move comes after the Commission’s full bench completed a two-day review visit to West Bengal to assess poll preparedness, following incidents of election-related violence in past elections and requests from several political parties.
ECI officials said the change was made after several political parties raised concerns that central forces and local police personnel were deployed in a way that favoured the ruling party in previous elections.
The poll body has also directed the state administration to complete route marches and area-domination exercises by CAPF along with local police personnel across all districts by March 14.
Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said the Commission would adopt a zero-tolerance approach towards election-related violence, taking strict action against those involved.
