Compared to last lok Sabha election in Uttarakhand, the number of polling booths identified as ultra sensitive for Parliamentary election 2014 has increased by 132. Meanwhile, since Thursday evening cCentral Armed Police Force teams began arriving at their assigned districts for facilitating a peaceful election in the state.
SP (crime, law and order, election), PHQ Nivedita Kukreti Kumar said that the sensitiveness of polling booths varies from time to time and depends on various factors like highly politically sensitive polling booths, number of criminals, SC/ST dominated area, communal tension, high polling percentage in a polling booth and highest polling percentage for particular candidate, political rivals and others stipulated by the Election Commission of India.
Based on such factors, in lok Sabha election 2009, a total of 387 polling centres were categorised as ultra sensitive and 1965 polling centres as sensitive. In lok Sabha election-2014, a total of 519 polling booths have been identified as ultra sensitive and 1,102 polling booths as sensitive in the State. This time there are 10,094 polling booths established in the State for the parliamentary polls.
As per ECI guidelines, the police force including Central Armed Police Force (CAPF), Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) Jawans, inspectors, sub-inspectors, head constables, constables and home guards will be deployed at polling stations in inter-State border areas, problem areas, sensitive, ultra-sensitive polling stations, EVM strong room and other places as
needed.
DIG (law and order, crime, election), Police Headquarter SK Shukla said that the central government has recently approved 56 companies of CAPF consisting nine companies of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), four companies of Border Security Force (BSF), seven companies of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), five companies of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), 30 companies of Himachal Pradesh SAP, Gujarat SAP and others for peaceful completion of lok Sabha election. Out of 56 companies of CAPF, nine companies of CAPF have been allocated for Dehradun district; 12 companies of CAPF for Haridwar; 12 companies and one platoon of CAPF for Udham Singh Nagar; five for Nainital, three for Almora, two companies and one platoon of CAPF each for Tehri and Chamoli; one company and two platoons of CAPF to Rudraprayag and Champawat; one company and two platoons of CAPF to Chamoli; one company and one platoon of CAPF to Bageshwar; one company of CAPF each to Pithoragarh and Uttarkashi, three companies and one platoon of CAPF to Pauri. He further said that to avoid untoward incidents at polling stations during lok Sabha
elections, apart from deployment of 56 companies of CAPF, around 21 companies PAC jawans, 13, 011 constables, 11, 247 home guards, 1, 610 head constables, 1, 282 sub inspectors, 108 inspectors and 40 gazetted officers will also be deployed at 7,469 polling centres in the State.