Political campaigning for the Kolebira bypoll ended on Tuesday with heavyweights like Babulal Marandi and Hemant Soren canvassing for their candidates on Tuesday. The candidates with just one day in hand ahead of polling will focus on door to door campaigning on Wednesday.
JMM executive president Hemant Soren reached Kolebira on the last day of campaigning to garner votes for Menon Ekka, Jharkhand party candidate and wife of former MLA Anosh Ekka. Hemant, flanked with party general secretary Vinod Pandey went ahead on a foot-march with party workers and campaigned for Menon Ekka.
Notably, JVM chief Babulal Marandi and legislator Pradeep Yadav had visited Kolebira on Monday to campaign for Congress candidate Naman Vixal Kongadi. BJP candidate Basant Soreng, Rashtriya Sengel Party candidate Anil Kandulna and independent Basant Dungdung also campaigned for themselves, while the AJSU party supported and sought votes for Basant Dungdung.
Meanwhile, the State police have made elaborate security arrangement for ensuring peaceful and fair polls in the Kolebira assembly by-election to be held on December 20.
IG (Operation) Asish Batra said that 11 companies of paramilitary forces and 19 companies of state police in addition to 300 police officers are being deployed to ensure safe polling.
He said all necessary measures have been taken to ensure people come out and vote in a fearless environment.
He added force’s deployment would take place according to security threats adding several booths have been declared hypersensitive.
According to district administration 102 booths are hypersensitive, 113 sensitive and 55 are normal booths.
The administration would deploy a mix of para-military forces, JAP and district armed police in 80 percent of the booths. The district armed police would provide security in the remaining booths.
On extremism, Batra stated police have been carrying out area domination exercise in the assembly area since December 1.
He added police have achieved significant success against the PLFI killing one of their commanders Vijay Dang in an encounter. He added a PLFI member was arrested in another encounter.
The Simdega SP Sanjeev Kumar said that PLFI is on the back foot in the district as most of their members have been either neutralized or arrested. The Maoists become active sporadically here. “The police are taken precautionary steps to ensure safety. There should be no security lapses,” he said.