Deploy paramilitary forces for WB co-operative bank polls: SC

Supreme Court NEW DELHI: In what could be a reflection of violence-ridden politics in Bengal, SC Monday ordered deployment of central para-military forces for conduct of Dec 31 elections to Contai Cooperative Bank, which falls in leader of opposition and BJP MLA Suvendu Adhikari's Nandigram (Purbo Medinipur) constituency. This unusual order was passed by a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Manmohan on a petition filed by one Rabindra Nath Thakur, who had alleged that the electoral roll of the cooperative bank polls included 770 dead persons, an allegation confirmed by Cooperative State Election Commission in its status report. Senior advocates P S Patwalia and Bansuri Swaraj Monday alleged that the state has moved five polling booths to communally-sensitive locations to deter voters from casting vote.

For the state, advocate Joydeep Mazumdar informed the bench that shifting of polling stations was necessitated by announcement of national merit-cum-scholarship examinations, dates of which clashed with the voting day. The bench has also directed the state to provide CCTV coverage of all 241 polling booths and free transport facilities to voters from two of the earlier booths. Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India .



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