LS Polls 2024: EC flags over 3,600 polling stations as critical for 4th phase polls in Bengal

PTI, May 10, 2024, 9:18 AM IST

Kolkata: The Election Commission has flagged 3,647 polling stations as critical out of the 15,507 designated for the fourth phase of polling across eight Lok Sabha constituencies in West Bengal on May 13, a poll official said on Thursday.

Bolpur seat has the highest number of critical polling stations at 659, followed by Birbhum (640), Baharampur (558), Burdwan-Durgapur (422), Ranaghat (410), Krishnanagar (338) Asansol (319) and Bardhaman Purba (301), he added.

Considering the sensitivity of the stations, the poll body has decided to deploy a total of 579 companies of central forces during the fourth phase of polling, he said, adding more than 30,000 state police personnel would also be deployed.

According to the official, a maximum of 152 companies of central forces would be deployed in Bardhaman Purba district, followed by Birbhum (131), Asansol Durgapur Police Commissionerate (88), Krishnanagar Police District (81), Murshidabad Police District (73), and Ranaghat Police District (54), he said.

Similarly, for the fifth phase of polling in Bengal, out of 13,481 polling stations, the poll body has identified 7,711 as critical, the official added.

The fifth phase of polling is scheduled in seven Lok Sabha constituencies of Bengal – Bongaon, Barrackpore, Howrah, Uluberia, Serampore, Hooghly, and Arambagh – on May 20.

With 1,787 critical polling stations, Hooghly tops the list followed by Arambagh (1,770), Srirampur (1236), Barrackpore (1,059), Uluberia (694), Howrah (605), and Bongaon (550).

According to the commission’s rules, the current political situation is also considered before marking a polling station or booth as ‘critical’.

As per the rules of the EC, if more than 90 per cent voting is recorded at any booth, or if any one of the candidates gets more than 70 per cent of the total votes cast, or if less than 10 per cent of votes were cast in any one booth, then it is considered to be critical, the official added.