The Election Commission has decided to have 480 companies of central forces deployed across Bengal from March 1, a day after the post-SIR electoral rolls are published.

This is the first time in recent memory that central forces will be deployed even before the poll dates have been announced and the model code of conduct has come into force.

“A total of 480 companies of central forces will be deployed in the state in two phases — 240 companies on March 1 and the rest on March 10,” a senior poll panel official said.

The decision suggests that the commission fears serious law-and-order problems after the publication of the rolls on February 28.

“The way the state police handled the law-and-order issues that cropped up in some areas during the hearings of unmapped voters and those with logical discrepancies, it’s clear that the commission cannot depend on them,” a poll panel official said.

The poll panel official added: “The commission has to protect the officials carrying out the SIR. The way several officials were roughed up in front of the police during the SIR, the commission has no option other than having central forces deployed immediately after the publication of the rolls.”

Some officials said that many EROs and AEROs were approving voters who lack the required documents for inclusion in the rolls, and the micro-observers and roll observers were flagging these cases. The situation, therefore, carries the potential for an outburst of public emotion after the publication of the rolls, they said.

“If law-and-order problems crop up even before the declaration of the elections, it would be tough to hold the polls in ideal conditions,” a senior official said. “This is why the central forces will be deployed early.”

Officially, the Union home ministry has told Bengal chief secretary Nandini Chakravorty that 480 companies of central forces would be deployed to carry out area domination, confidence-building and polling-day duties, and to guard the electronic voting machines, strong rooms and counting centres.

“The reasons stated by the ministry are routine ones, and the central forces usually conduct these exercises after the election dates are announced and the model code comes into effect,” a senior official said.

“One has to read the actual reason between the lines. The commission will depend entirely on the central forces in the post-SIR phase and during the elections.”

In 2021, the poll panel had deployed 1,100 companies of central forces for the Bengal Assembly polls. Initial indications are, sources said, that more forces would be deployed this year.

“The commission appears to be planning to hold the polls in two or three phases this year (compared with eight phases in 2021). In that case, the number of central forces will have to be increased,” a source said.

A senior state bureaucrat said the Election Commission had perhaps learnt a lesson from the post-poll violence that rocked Bengal after the results of the 2021 elections were declared.

“If a similar situation arises after the rolls are published on February 28, it would be tough for the poll panel to hold the election on time.”