The Election Commission of India (ECI) has asked Maharastra to begin preparations for the Lok Sabha elections by putting in place a team of senior State secretaries to monitor the situation.
The State government will present an interim poll management plan to the ECI at a meeting on Tuesday. The plan will include measures to freeze the State borders, monitor movement, and tighten security at sensitive polling booths, officials said.
The ECI had in its letter on January 15 asked the State governments to present their individual poll management plan to the Centre. Officials said Maharastra deploys about two lakh police personnel including members of the State Reserve Police Force and the Central Reserve Police Force during the Assembly and general polls. The same number and additional personnel will be pressed into service during the Lok Sabha polls.
“We have put together a high-level team of Maharashtra Chief Secretary, secretary, home department, and Mumbai police commissioner,” a senior official in the State Election Commission said.
The general elections are scheduled to be held between April and May. These are expected to be conducted simultaneously with the Assembly elections in Haryana, Odisha, Sikkim, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir. As per the State plan, departments have been asked to ensure all vacancies are filled, holidays are cancelled for police personnel during the course of the elections. “Once the interim plan is finalised, we will present our final preparation plan on February 28, which will then be implemented,” an official in the home department said.
The last Lok Sabha elections were held in three phases in Maharashtra, and 48 constituencies had gone to polls. During the period, a security management plan was put in place especially for booths in six constituencies of Mumbai, officials said.