West Bengal Assembly polls | 793 companies of security forces for fourth phase

Many high-profile candidates are in the fray on Saturday

The Election Commission has deployed 793 companies of Central armed security forces for 44 seats in the fourth phase of Assembly polls in the State scheduled on Saturday. This is the highest-ever deployment in the ongoing polls in the State. While Cooch Behar has been allotted the highest number of 188 companies for nine seats, 103 companies have been allotted for the Howrah Police Commissionerate and 33 companies for rural Howrah district. For the Howrah Police Commissionerate area, the Commission has also appointed a senior police officer who will report to the Howrah Police Commissioner. Elections are held across five districts, two in north Bengal — Cooch Behar and Alipurduar — and three in south Bengal including Howrah, Hooghly and the constituencies in South 24 Parganas bordering Kolkata. The ECI has deployed 101 companies for the seats under the jurisdiction of the Kolkata police. About 1.15 crore voters will choose from 373 candidates in 15,940 polling stations.