Impasse linked to central force plea delay  Panel's advice 'ignored'

OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Election commissioner Mira Pande arrives at the poll panel office on Tuesday; (below) Mamata at Writers' Pictures by Pradip Sanyal and Sanat Kumar Sinha Calcutta, June 25: The impasse over panchayat election security could have been avoided had the Bengal government sought forces from the Centre and other states earlier, a senior Bengal government official said today. Sources in the poll panel said the commission had suggested to the state to arrange for 800 companies of central forces in September 2012 but the first letter to the Centre, seeking 300 companies, was sent on May 29 this year, eight months after the missive. The September 27 letter by the election commission was not its first. The poll panel had written to the state government in August, too, seeking details about its security deployment plan. But the state did not respond. "Ideally, the state should have taken up the issue with the Centre at least six months before the polls are scheduled," the government official said. According to him, the commission's letters gathered dust at the state secretariat as the chief minister was averse to the idea of "forces from outside" for the rural polls. "The two sides have been discussing about poll dates regularly since last September. The state government was reminded about the need for 800 companies but it never took the demand seriously. That's why this impasse," the government source said. The government's May 29 letter to the Centre was an "afterthought", the state official said. The letter was sent only when it seemed that the high court may haul up the government for contempt for doing little to meet the deployment plan set by a division bench in its May 14 order. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee had told a rally on July 21, 2012, that she wanted to advance the rural polls. She did not mention any dates but dropped hints that the polls would be held after the Pujas. Sources in the state poll panel said that after her announcement, the election commission wrote to the state in August 2012 seeking details of the government's plans about holding the rural polls. The commission asked the state to submit a detailed plan on security arrangements and deployment of forces in that letter. "The state government didn't respond to the letter, which prompted the poll panel to send another missive the next month," a source said in Writers'. The state panchayat department then sent a letter to the commission in September, saying that it wanted to hold the polls in December 2012. The commission made it clear that it was not possible to hold the polls in December as revision of electoral rolls would not be over by then, a poll panel source said. "Ignoring the poll panel's refusal, the state stuck to its stand of holding the elections in December as the chief minister wanted the polls early…. But that was not possible because of technical reasons," said the source. The commission had made it clear in the September letter that the polls should be conducted in at least three phases with 800 companies of central forces, 300 companies of which should be deployed in the nomination phase. "The government knew all along that the poll panel would press for 800 companies of central forces. But they decided to overlook the demand…. Had they acted in advance, the impasse over the forces would not have happened now," the government official said. According to the force deployment plan laid down by the high court, 1.49 lakh police personnel would be needed for the nine-district first phase on July 2. The state, as of today, cannot make available more than 60,000 of its own forces. The Centre, through its lawyer, today informed the high court that it is not in a position to send forces to Bengal because of insurgency in Maoist-affected states, militancy in Jammu and Kashmir and the floods in Uttarakhand. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130626/jsp/bengal/story_17049376.jsp#.Ucr3hTuBloI