The Election Commission of India (ECI) is gearing up for a high-intensity security operation for the upcoming West Bengal Assembly elections. According to internal sources, the Commission is planning to deploy a minimum of 2000 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) to ensure a violence-free and fair polling process. This massive scale of deployment is aimed at providing a secure environment for voters across all 294 constituencies.

A few companies of central forces have already started arriving in the state for area domination and route marches. Taking lessons from previous incidents of political unrest, the ECI wants to ensure that central forces are present at every polling station. If confirmed, this deployment of 2000 companies would mark one of the largest security arrangements ever seen in the state’s electoral history.

While the opposition parties, including the BJP, have welcomed this move as a necessary step for fair elections, the ruling TMC maintains that while they want peaceful polls, the forces should remain neutral. The presence of such a vast number of personnel is expected to keep sensitive zones under strict surveillance, significantly reducing the chances of post-poll and poll-day disturbances.