Campaign goes shrill but EC

With Chief Minister Narendra Modi hogging all the attention during the Assembly election campaign in Gujarat...

With Chief Minister Narendra Modi hogging all the attention during the Assembly election campaign in Gujarat, the Election Commission8217;s unprecedented clean-up job has gone more or less unnoticed. Sparing not even the CM for his controversial remarks on the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter, the commission is going about setting the house in order to ensure impartial election in the state.

In a first for Gujarat, political parties are running scared of the EC which has been pulling them up for even the smallest of excesses. With a record 580 companies of central paramilitary forces, the EC is keeping a hawk eye on all candidates and their activities.

Despite the keen contest, there are not many party flags, hoardings or roadside posters to be seen. With the EC ready to crack the whip on anything from the number of supporters accompanying a candidate for filing nominations to press advertisements and bulk SMSes, the parties are not taking any chances.

The security arrangements are also unprecedented this time. In 2002, 357 companies of central security forces were posted in Gujarat, but all of them were kept in reserve. In contrast, 580 companies of central paramilitary forces have been stationed in the state this time. With apprehensions that violence could be engineered before the polls and even bookies betting on a possible attack on the CM, the central forces are being deployed for all the CM8217;s public meetings in addition to the Black Commandoes escorting him permanently.

The EC has gone about its duty shaking up even the bottom rung of the administration with transfers and arrangements effected right down to the level of police sub-inspectors. Though top officials like Ahmedabad Police Commissioner J Mahapatra, who was shunted out before the elections, have expressed their unhappiness, the EC has been unmoved.

Initially, the BJP had criticised the EC when it transferred IAS and IPS officers perceived to be too close to the party. But the ruling party seems to have mellowed down, noticing that the EC is equally active in Himachal Pradesh where the Congress is in power.