Over 19,000 police personnel will be deployed across the city to ensure peaceful conduct of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) polls scheduled on Saturday August 22.
Police have identified nearly 700 hyper-sensitive and 1,990 sensitive booths. They have been classified as either politically or communally sensitive. One head constable and a constable will be posted at each hypersensitive polling station while two constables will be posted at sensitive booths, Police Commissioner N.S. Megarikh announced on Thursday at a press conference related to poll preparedness.
“Local body elections are the toughest in the election scene. But, I’m happy to report that we’re fully satisfied with the preparations. No major incident has been reported in the run-up to the elections,” he said.
Apart from the city police, 103 platoons of Karnataka State Reserve Police have been deployed. These include teams for quick action if cases of violence are reported.
He added that crime in the city had come down in the past week. Over 3,000 people have been arrested or detained while more than 5,000 licenced weapons were surrendered to the police in the run-up to the polls.
As for polling staff, State Election Commissioner P.N. Srinivasachari said there would be no problem manning polling booths as BBMP personnel outnumber the requirement of election staff. “On Friday, election officers will oversee the setting up of nearly 7,000 booths in the city,” he said.
Apart from 27 KAS officers in each constituency, the elections will be monitored by seven special observers.
