The chiefs of five central forces addressed officers and personnel at the CRPF Bhavan auditorium in Salt Lake on Sunday, briefing them on how to secure the Bengal elections and drawing criticism from Trinamool and social media users.
The meeting, attended by the directors-general of the CRPF, BSF, CISF, SSB and the ITBP, was meant to finalise a “robust, technology-driven security architecture” for the Bengal polls, a senior officer from a central force said.
“They are using all agencies. Today, they even met the military. They are sending the military for a state election,” chief minister Mamata Banerjee said at a meeting with members of the Gujarati, Jain, Bihari, Sikh and other communities at Ladies Park in Bhowanipore.
A senior central force official who had attended the meeting said the idea was to address all the forces together with the primary objective of ensuring a “free, fair, and transparent election”.
Around 2,500 central force companies — about 2 lakh personnel — will be posted at polling stations across Bengal.
On Sunday, their leadership asked them to focus on sensitive areas and the deployment of quick response teams, and adhere to all poll panel guidelines.
Many social media users questioned the need for such a meeting and claimed Bengal had been singled out.
In a post on X, TrinamoolMP Mahua Moitra said: “...’All Pet IPS Officers of BJPconverge in Kolkata on how to meddle with elections’. The Chiefs of each of these 5 forces are IPS officers, NOT officers from that force!”
Reacting to her post, a person wrote: “They are goingall out to make sure BJPwins.”
Another said: “They can do that.. but will never ever win the trust of Bengalpeople.”