By IANS,
Kolkata: With the third phase of the West Bengal assembly polls April 27 expected to be a “tough one”, the Election Commission has decided to send a special observer from Orissa on that day, said a senior election official Thursday.
“The Chief Electoral Officer of Orissa S. Srinivassan will arrive in the state during the third phase of the assembly polls, when polling will be held in South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas and Kolkata April 27. He has been appointed as special observer for the third phase,” said state Joint Chief Electoral Officer Dibyendu Sarkar.
“EC apprehends that third phase of state assembly polls is going to be a tough one. So they have decided to send a special observer,” said another senior officer.
According to sources in CEO’s office, more than 3,000 polling stations have been identified as super sensitive in the three districts going to polls in the third phase, while around 1.4 lakh people have been identified as vulnerable to threats from miscreants.
“In South 24 Pargans district alone there are 1,875 super sensitive booths and at least 1,36,572 people have been listed as vulnerable to threats and 938 persons as intimidators. There are 433 super sensitive booths, 15,000 vulnerable people and 314 intimidators in Kolkata,” said Rajesh Pandey, officer on special duty in CEO office.
“In the North 24 Parganas, number of super sensitive booths is 729 and vulnerable people and intimidators are 1,660 and 177, respectively,” he said.