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Violence-prone Saurashtra awaits D-day with bated breath

While Surendranagar takes pride in not having a single hyper-sensitive polling booth in the entire constituency, Jamnagar leads with 232 hyper-sensitive booths in the constituency.

Of the 10,368 polling booths used during the last general election from the Saurashtra region, 1,632 were declared as sensitive and 861 were said to be hyper-sensitive.

The crime graph has been showing an upward rise in the region during the run-up to the electioneering in Saurashtra. Even with adequate police force, poll-related violence has kept recurring at regular intervals.

So far as the figures for the hyper-sensitive polling booths are concerned, Jamnagar is closely followed by Amreli which has 183 such booths. It is followed by Kutch (106), Porbandar (100), Bhavnagar (98), Junagadh (81) and Rajkot (61).

Out of the 1,314 polling booths in Amreli, 268 are said to be sensitive. It is followed by Rajkot (249), Jamnagar (229), Bhavnagar (194), Surendranagar (190), Porbandar (189), Junagadh (161) and Kutch (152) as far as sensitive polling booths are concerned.

The police have drawn up contigency plans to ensure that polling is peaceful during the parliamentary and assembly elections in Saurashtra. The police have demanded three to four additional companies of State Reserve Police and the Central Reserve Police Force for each district to curb violence during campaigning and on polling day.

Though antisocial elements and hardcore criminals have not been rounded up so far, the police has been keeping a close watch on their movements, according to sources in the police department.

During the last assembly election, Jayantibhai Vadodaria, a BJP worker from Gondal, was hacked to death. This time, however, the police are determined not to allow a repeat of the violence seen during the last general election in Saurashtra.

The figures for the forthcoming Lok Sabha and assembly polls are even more startling. Of the 34,952 polling booths in Gujarat, 5,820 are stated to be sensitive and 2,645 as hyper-sensitive.

In the entire state, Patan has the highest number of 267 hyper-sensitive polling booths while Surat has the highest number of 374 sensitive polling booths. The lowest number of sensitive and hyper-sensitive polling booths is stated to be in Sabarkantha district.

A close watch is also being maintained in the border district of Kutch and all along the sea coast. Although Porbandar has fewer sensitive and hyper-sensitive polling booths, it continues to be a hotbed of poll-related violence.

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