‘Defer elections till Central forces can arrive’

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“The state government had asked for the forces at the last minute — knowing fully well that it would not be possible to deploy Central forces to the state at such a short notice. The SEC, too, had been laid back in asking for Central forces,” Sarkar said.

He A “The law and order situation in the state is such that no election can be conducted in a free and fair manner without the intervention of Central forces,” said Sarkar. He further said that they have suggested to the SEC that Central forces deployed at Maoist-hit and border areas be deployed for polls.

Upadhyaya, however, maintained that it was not possible to reschedule the elections. “There is no provision in the law, which says that the elections could be rescheduled after the poll notification has been issued. In the absence of Central forces, we will have to look for an alternative and make do with state forces,” he said. On April 11, Upadhyaya will hold a meeting with the DG, home secretary and police commissioner to take stock of the law and order situation.