The State Election Commissioner, Rajiva Sinha, held a meeting with state chief secretary Harikrishna Dwivedi, state police DG Manoj Malaviya, and ADG on Sunday morning to discuss how the Central forces and state police would be used for the panchayat polls.

With six days left for the polls, the State Election Commission (SEC) has yet to make a final decision on the use of central forces in the panchayat polls. Therefore, the commission held another meeting with senior officials of the state government to address security issues. According to commission sources, this meeting primarily focused on determining where the state police will be deployed.

The issue of a shortage of central forces was also discussed, and there were discussions about bringing in police from other states. As per the Calcutta High Court’s order, a total of 822 companies of security personnel are expected to be deployed for the state’s oneround panchayat polls. The Election Commission plans to deploy 22 companies in the first phase and 315 companies in the second phase.

These forces have already begun entering the state. However, there is confusion regarding the remaining 485 companies of security forces, as neither the Commission nor the Union Home Ministry has made a final decision on their deployment. Based on the questions asked by the Central government’s lawyer in the High Court, many speculate that the remaining 485 companies may not be available, resulting in only 337 companies being available for the Panchayat polls.

Meanwhile, an organisation of teachers and education workers has written to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud, demanding the deployment of central forces. The letter includes a complaint against the State Election Commission and the Union Home Ministry, alleging that the SEC is not taking sufficient steps to deploy central forces in accordance with the orders of the Calcutta High Court and Supreme Court.

In the letter to the Chief Justice of India, the Secondary Teachers and Education Workers Association claimed that violence is occurring in almost every district of the state in connection with the Panchayat polls. They argued that the SEC is not implementing the court’s order regarding the deployment of Central forces, which would create a lack of security during voting.

They appealed to the CJI seeking the intervention of the Supreme Court to ensure compliance with the court’s orders for free and peaceful elections.