Paramilitary forces arrive in Tamil Nadu ahead of Assembly polls

Scores of districts saw a heavy deployment of paramilitary forces ahead of the Tamil Assembly election on April 6, on Sunday. The Model Code of Conduct (MCC) came into effect on February 26. The forces have been deployed in Salem, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Namakkal, Erode, Tenkasi, Tuticorin and Nagercoil districts.

On Sunday, 183 para-military personnel arrived in Salem and 92 each in Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts. They represent the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Indo-Tibet Border Police. The first contingent of 1,130 Border Security Force (BSF) personnel from nine companies, too, arrived in Madurai on Sunday. Nine companies of BSF personnel have been deployed in Madurai and its adjoining areas following the announcement of the Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu.

The Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora announced the dates for Assembly elections for four states and one Union Territory — Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala, West Bengal and Puducherry. For Tamil Nadu, the voting will be conducted in a single phase on April 6. The results will be declared on May 2. The notification for the election to Tamil Nadu will be March 12. The last date of nomination will be March 19.

Accordingly, the District Collectors in the Salem region in Tamil Nadu, which includes Salem, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Namakkal and Erode districts, have started implementing the pre-poll measures. As the model code of conduct for the forthcoming election is in force, the Collectors have convened an all-party meeting to make sure that the electoral codes are followed by all the political parties so that the polling is conducted smoothly.

The BSF personnel who arrived in Madurai were later sent in different groups to Tenkasi, Thoothukudi and Nagercoil districts for election security.

The security measures are tightened in all the major cities and vulnerable constituencies will be marked for safety purposes.

The jawans are brought in to take forward the electoral duties such as vehicle check, and keeping a tab on politicians along with the local and city police networks.

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