West Bengal deploys 23,000 police personnel for Kolkata polls

West Bengal has deployed 23,000 police personnel for security ahead of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) polls on Sunday on the orders of the state election commission, after the Calcutta High Court rejected the BJP's plea in a verdict on late Friday night for bringing in central armed police forces (CAPF) for the election.

Meanwhile, the BJP filed a special leave petition, which was accepted by the vacation registrar and referred to the Chief Justice of India for a decision on urgent hearing on Saturday.

The Calcutta High Court on Thursday directed the state police force and the Kolkata Police to provide security for the KMC election. The court declined the BJP's prayer for the deployment of CAPF for the polls, following which the BJP's state unit moved the division bench of the high court, challenging the verdict.


As part of confidence building measures, Kolkata Police's commando force conducted route marches and area domination in various areas of Kolkata ahead of the KMC election.

The state election commission held meetings with state director general of police and commissioner of police of Kolkata on Saturday regarding safety and security measures. The election commission sought hourly reports from the police, said people aware of the matter. A separate meeting took place with home secretary BP Gopalika regarding dates of other civic body polls.