NEW DELHI: The Election Commission has given full authority to its special observers in poll-bound West Bengal to monitor the state-wide deployment of police and central para-military forces and intervene where ever they notice any deviation from the approved poll security plan.
The special observers will ensure that the security forces’ presence allays any fear in the people’s minds about coming out to cast their vote, given the past incidents of poll violence.
As per EC’s directions on Thursday, special observers — former Bihar chief electoral officer Ajay Nayak (general observer) and retired IPS officers Vivek Dubey and Mrinal Kanti Das (both police observers) — will be in full charge of ensuring equitable area domination by the forces and see that all critical polling booths are properly covered in the deployment plan.