Security to be beefed up for Bihar, UP elections
George Iype in New Delhi
The Union home ministry has decided to deploy Rapid Action Force personnel in the sensitive constituencies of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh where caste and communal violence is expected during the polling days in the area.
Home ministry officials, who held a series of security-related meetings with the Election Commission, have identified 15 violence-prone constituencies in Bihar, seven in Uttar Pradesh, three in Haryana, one each in Andhra Pradesh and Punjab.
The communally-sensitive constituencies in Bihar are Siwan, Gopalpur, Hazipur, Madhepura, Khagaria, Begusarai, Motihari, Maharajganj, Barh, Kishanganj, Godda, Purena, Jehanabad, Patna, and Sheonjar.
Likewise, poll-related violence will affect Sambhal, Pratapgarh, Faizabad, Varanasi, Mirzapur, Mainpuri and Gonda in UP. While group clashes are expected in Bhiwani, Rohtak and Hissar in Haryana, the ministry has identified Rayalseema in Andhra Pradesh and Faridkot in Punjab as especially sensitive.
The EC has already asked the chief secretaries of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to ensure that no weapons are carried in public.
While Chief Election Commissioner Dr M S Gill and the state chief secretaries will visit the troubled areas, the central government has decided to make doubly sure by deploying more security personnel in the rural constituencies of both states.
Caste and communal clashes between the Naxalities and Ranvir Sena activists are expected in many of Bihar's rural constituencies
"We expect maximum poll violence in UP and Bihar. Therefore, RAF personnel along with the Central Reserve Police Force will be deployed in the states," a home ministry official said. The RAF would be concentrated in areas with a Muslim majority. This is the first time that RAF personnel will be engaged in election work.
The RAF was constituted in 1992 after the communal riots following the demolition of the Babri Masjid at Ayodhya claimed more than 3,000 people across the country, mostly Muslims.
Fearing violence and booth-capturing, the EC had allocated the highest amount -- Rs 605 million -- to Bihar during the 1996 general election. The EC has now hiked the amount to Rs 750 milllion considering the new security requirements called for in the state.
Uttar Pradesh, the state with the largest number of constituencies -- 85 -- electoral violence is mainly expected to be a result of "the criminalisation of politics."
An Intelligence Bureau report claims the law and order situation in many constituencies of UP will be 'volatile' as many criminals have entered mainstream politics. The EC had allocated Rs 593 million for the 1996 election in UP. This year, the amount has been hiked to Rs 700 million.
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