Elaborate security arrangements for polling

Bhopal, Apr 11: Elaborate security arrangements have been put in place in view of the Lok Sabha by-election in Betul constituency in Madhya Pradesh on Saturday. While borders of two districts under which the seat falls Betul and Harda have been sealed since Thursday, 10 companies of armed police forces had been deployed, Additional Police Superintendent Dharmendra Singh Bhadoria said.

He said police forces from across the state, excluding Indore and Ujjain Ranges, have been deployed at the polling stations. “All required arrangements have been made to ensure free and fair polling. Eight battalions of Special Armed Force (SAF) and CRPF personnel each besides more than 3,000 jawans have been deployed,” Election Commission sources said. A direct contest is being witnessed between the ruling BJP and opposition Congress in the Betul Parliamentary by-poll, where polling would begin Saturday morning.

To keep a tight vigil, 94 mobile parties have been pressed into service at polling stations, Singh said. As many as 332 polling booths have been identified as sensitive and they will be guarded by armed police forces. On the remaining 899 polling stations, 70 mobile police team have been deployed. Besides, 24 teams comprising gazetted police officers would be put on duty, he added. The by-poll on this tribal-dominated seat was necessitated following the demise of BJP leader Vijay Khandelwal. A total of 10,96,418 voters, including 5,20,162 women, would decide the fate of 14 candidates, including Hemanth Khandelwal (BJP), Sukhdeo Panse (Congress) and Sunilam (SP). Counting would take place on April 16 and the results would be declared on the same day. A total 1,219 polling centre had been established of which 331 have been identified as sensitive.