Telangana Polls: Security To Be Heightened At 500 Polling Stations In Areas Affected By Left Wing Extremism

Additional security personnel will be deployed at around 500 polling stations bordering Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra that are affected by Left Wing Extremism during Telangana polls.

Additional security personnel will be deployed in areas affected by Left Wing Extremism in Telangana/Representational Image

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Additional security personnel will be deployed at around 500 polling stations in areas affected by Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) ahead of assembly polls in Telangana. The polling stations where security would be heightened include areas bordering Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra in a bid to thwart any attempts to disrupt the November 30 Assembly elections in the state, officials said, reported PTI. 

About 511 polling stations have been identified as LWE affected in eight districts of Telangana bordering Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra, said the officials. 

"Accordingly, Central Armed Police Forces personnel will be deployed in additional numbers in those areas, in addition to the state police force. Area domination will primarily be the strategy," Telangana Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Vikas Raj told the news agency.

The polling duration would be a little different in these stations as compared to others, he said. 

"There will be more force deployment. In these polling stations, it will be a minimum of one section of the CAPF along with the local force. The deployment of forces will be in addition to what is the normal scale in other areas," Vikas Raj said.

On being asked if authorities are anticipating any threat or violence from the Maoists, the CEO observed that there had been no incidents as such in the recent past. 

“So, I am quite hopeful nothing of that sort is going to happen. Of course, the police is fully prepared and they are doing their intelligence-based activities and area domination so that there is no scope left from that point of view,” the CEO said. 

As many as 100 companies of central forces have arrived in the state till now and have been deployed based on the requirement to the check posts and various teams and they are conducting flag marches, Raj added.

"They have started making their presence felt," he pointed out.

 The polling official said that out of the 35,000-odd polling stations across the state, 10,000 have been identified as “critical”.