Mamata govt seeks central forces

Banerjee said he expects the forces to arrive in time of conducting the polls. But when asked whether the government was late in seeking the security forces from the Centre,Banerjee replied: “The filing of the nominations (for the first phase on July 2) begins from today. So it was in time that we asked for the forces.’’

Stating that five types of central para-military forces — BSF,CRPF,CISF,SSB and ITBP — are presently posted in the state,Banerjee noted,“We will have to be content with whatever forces we get from the Centre.”

Sources said the state government had unofficially sought 550 companies from the Centre,but the Centre said it could provide only 300 companies at such a short notice. For deploying 300 companies of central forces,the state will have to pay Rs 160 crore.

The state government had earlier written to three states — Punjab,Madhya Pradesh and Orissa — seeking forces. In all,50 companies of policemen each have been required from these states. But till date,the state government has received no response from them,said the home secretary. “We expect some forces from these states,” he added.

Even with the central forces,the state will not be able to fulfill the required 1.18 security personnel as sought by the commission.

The government,which was at loggerheads with the state election commission on the very issue of deployment of central forces that ultimately saw the two sides seeking High Court’s intervention,made the sudden change in its stand after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee met the top three officials of her government — Chief Secretary Sanjay Mitra,Home Secretary Basudev Banerjee and ADG (law and order) Banibrata Basu — after they returned from Raj Bhavan after meeting Governor M K Narayanan. In the meeting with the Chief Minister,the three officials discussed the minutes of their talks with the Governor,who had called them to get an idea about the preparedness of the panchayat poll. The three officials convinced the Chief Minister that without the central forces it would not be possible for the state government to arrange adequate number of armed security personnel for the panchayat poll and there was every possibility of the state election commission going back to High Court. Mamata,it is said,finally gave her consent.