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Security beefed up in Jharkhand for first phase of State Assembly polls | Security has been beefed up in Jharkhand on Tuesday ahead of the first phase of elections to the provincial legislature to prevent Maoist attempts at disruption. Around
470 candidates are contesting in the first phase of the polls for the 26 assembly
seats of the State. Officials are being sent to respective polling booths to ensure
peaceful conduct of elections. Huge number of police and paramilitary personnel
have been deployed at various polling booths. "We can't tell you how many companies
are there or where the forces have been deployed, but we will definitely tell
you that we have all the necessary amount of forces required. Police have been
deployed at all the emergency locations," said B D Ram, Director General of Jharkhand
Police. Over 300 companies of police and allied security personnel have been placed
at the disposal of the Election Commission to ensure free and fair elections.
Despite these measures, fear of Maoists prevails among many locals including the
persons assigned to man the polling booths. "The environment is a bit scary and
we are really scared. We will see once we reach the booths. Everyone is scared
at home seeing the Maoist terror prevailing around here," said Dilip Kumar, a
designated polling officer. Maoists have called for boycott of the polls in the
areas dominated by them. Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI (Maoist) leader
Mallojulla Koteswar Rao had recently stated that the Congress party and the Jharkhand
Mukti Morcha (JMM) would be 'targeted' during the elections. Similarly, Samar
Jee also known as Anmol, through a press release, warned that those who take part
in the elections would be 'punished' by the Maoists. In the General Elections
to the Lok Sabha held earlier this year, Maoists had issued a similar call, but
the Election Commission was able to ensure peaceful elections. Over 57 percent
of the electorate in Jharkhand voted in the Lok Sabha polls. The assembly elections
for the 81 seats will take place in five phases between November 25 and December
18. |
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