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NEW DELHI: The two-phase polling in West Bengal spread over just one week – making it the state’s most compact in recent memory – is aimed at curbing intimidation of electors and polling personnel by unruly elements allegedly hired and groomed by parties to influence the outcome in their favour, TOI has learnt. Election Commission sources explained that unruly elements, enjoying patronage of the party in office, usually move in between phases from one poll-going area to another and resort to malpractices known in local parlance as ‘chhapa’ – wherein the polling parties are threatened inside polling stations and votes cast through impersonation; booth jamming – a practice followed in rural areas where electors are asked not to go to polling stations by citing violence, disorder or some blockage along the access route; and source/gate jamming – wherein electors in urban areas are discouraged from venturing out of their homes for voting, on the pretext that their votes have already been cast by others.
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In the latter two cases, most prefer to stay back, strangely to avoid explaining to poll officials why they are not the one impersonating. The sources said the larger the number of phases, as in the past, the easier it was for the limited force of unruly elements to move from one area to another, maximising coverage to “intimidate electors and polling personnel”. The two polling dates – April 23, covering 152 assembly constituencies (ACs); and April 29, covering the remaining 142 ACs – would spread the “unruly force” thin, limiting their potential to sabotage the elections and influence the voting pattern in favour of a particular party outside their “local area”. There will be 100% webcasting from inside polling stations, they said. A key enabler of EC in restricting the Bengal poll to just two phases is the good availability of central armed police forces (CAPFs). Sources indicated that nearly 1,600-2,000 companies of CAPFs – comprising around 1.5-1.8 lakh personnel – may be deployed in the state. While nearly 500 companies are already in Bengal on advance deployment, an additional 1,000-1,500 companies shall be stationed there before April 23. In fact, forces deployed in Assam will move to Bengal soon after the northeastern state completes polling on April 9.
