Representative Image.
Credit: PTI Photo
To ensure violence free polls and keep the terrorists at bay, the Election Commission (EC) has sanctioned the deployment of 635 Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) companies in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in the two Union Territories (UTs).
The number is second highest after West Bengal where 920 companies will be deployed for the poll duty during April and May. Uttar Pradesh with the highest number of 80 Lok Sabha seats, will have 252 paramilitary companies while the UT of Chandigarh will use a minimum 11 companies, the EC figures reveal.
Jammu and Kashmir has long been a flashpoint, a battleground where political aspirations collide with security imperatives. It is always the target of Pakistan sponsored militant outfits like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).
Keeping these scenarios in mind, the EC has approved the highest mobilization of security forces to ensure peaceful elections.
Overall the EC has considered the requests made by the state Chief Electoral Officers and decided to deploy a maximum of around 3,400 companies of CAPFs in all states and UTs in a phased manner to ensure free and fair elections.
The CAPFs are the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and National Security Guard (NSG).
The EC order reads that out of 635 paramilitary companies assigned to Jammu and Kashmir, 36 will be retained for Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs)/Strong Rooms guarding and counting centre arrangements.
While CEO Jammu and Kashmir Pandurang Kondbarao Pole will be overall Incharge to monitor deployment of paramilitary forces in the UT, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Law & Order Vijay Kumar will be Special Police Nodal Officer.
Jammu and Kashmir has five Lok Sabha seats while Ladakh has one. In 2019 Parliamentary polls both UTs were part of erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and accounted for six seats.