Central Govt to despatch advance forces to Bihar

NEW DELHI, JANUARY 5: The Union Home Ministry on Wednesday agreed to despatch some Central forces in advance to Bihar which is going to As...

NEW DELHI, JANUARY 5: The Union Home Ministry on Wednesday agreed to despatch some Central forces in advance to Bihar which is going to Assembly polls along with Haryana, Orissa and Manipur shortly in order to “sanitise” the areas which had witnessed some violence during the Lok Sabha polls.

Some forces had already been positioned and some more forces would be sent to the State before the Assembly polls, Chief Election Commissioner M S Gill told reporters after a meeting with Union Home Secretary Kamal Pande where the security arrangements for the Assembly polls were reviewed.

He said the commission had already sought maximum Central forces to ensure a smooth conduct of polls in these four states.

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“We are totally satisfied with the response of the Home Secretary and his officials and everything is on line,” Gill said adding that there would be very effective security arrangements during the polls.

The meeting among other things discussed security planning state-wise, requirement of forces as wellas deployment and their uses, he said.

Asked as to when the commission would announce the poll schedule, the CEC said it may be done after the publication of summary revision of electoral rolls on January seven.

The CEC said on Tuesday the revision of electoral rolls in Orissa has been cancelled in view of the recent cyclone and the State would be using the 1999 rolls for poll purposes.

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Although the dates for the polls are yet to be firmed up, elections have to be completed by March 31 to allow the newly-elected assemblies to take a vote on account for meeting the Financial needs of the states till passage of their respective budgets.

While the tenure of the Bihar Assembly ends on April nine, those of Orissa and Manipur expire in the last week of March. In Haryana, the Assembly has already been dissolved and a caretaker government is in office.