Bengal Assembly Polls 2026: Central Forces To Arrive A Day Early

Kolkata: The office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, on Thursday said the central forces will start arriving in stages starting Friday, a day earlier than the previous announcement of February 28. This has led to speculation in the administrative circle ahead of the Assembly polls scheduled later this year.

Some experts say the Election Commission has taken this step after assessing the law and order situation before publishing the final electoral roll for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). Sources said the advancement in deployment has been made for route marches and area inspections to ensure law and order before the elections.

The Commission has detailed the deployment of 240 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) in the first phase. The highest number of 30 companies will be deployed in North 24 Parganas, 16 companies in Murshidabad, 15 companies each in Howrah and South 24 Paraganas, 14 companies each in Purba Medinipur and Hooghly, 12 companies each will be deployed in Kolkata, Malda and Nadia, 11 companies in North Dinajpur, 10 companies in South Dinajpur, nine each in Cooch Behar and Darjeeling, eight in Purba Bardhaman, seven each in Paschim Medinipur, Paschim Bardhaman, Jalpaiguri, Bankura and Birbum, five each in Purulia, Jhargram and Alipurduar, and three in Kalimpong.

According to the commission's sources, the number of sensitive and ultra-sensitive booths in each district has already been identified, and this distribution of forces is based on that. Another 240 companies will be deployed in the second phase on March 10. The 240 companies of CAPF include 110 companies of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), 55 companies of the Border Security Force (BSF), 21 companies of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), 27 companies of the Indo-Tibetan Police Force (ITBP), and 27 companies of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).

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