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KOLKATA — Ensuring peaceful polls in the fifth phase of elections for the seven Lok Sabha constituencies in West Bengal on May 20 will be yet another challenging task for the Election Commission (EC) as over 57 per cent of the booths in this phase have been identified as sensitive in nature.
As per records of the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, the exact percentage of the identified sensitive booth in this phase is 57.19 per cent, which is substantially higher than the figure of 23.5 per cent in the fourth phase on May 13.
The seven Lok Sabha constituencies in West Bengal that are going to polls on May 20 include Hooghly, Arambagh and Serampore in Hooghly district, Barrackpore and Bangaon in North 24 Parganas district and Howrah and Uluberia in Howrah district.
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Out of these seven Lok Sabha constituencies, as per CEO office figures, four have over 50 per cent of sensitive booths while two of them have over 80 per cent.
In the fifth phase, Hooghly has the highest number of sensitive booths at 87 per cent followed by Arambagh at 85 per cent. Barrackpore has the third highest number of sensitive booths -- 67 per cent, followed by Sereampore -- 60 per cent.
Precisely keeping that in mind, the commission has decided to increase the central armed police forces (CAPF) deployment in the fifth phase by around 32 per cent from what it was in the fourth phase.
Insiders from the CEO's office pointed out that this increase in CAPF deployment will be despite the fact that the number of Lok Sabha constituencies going to polls in the fifth phase is slightly lesser than what it was in the fourth phase.