1 lakh paramilitary personnel to be deployed in polls in 5 states

NEW DELHI: An estimated one lakh paramilitary personnel along with state police forces are likely to be deployed in the upcoming assembly elections in five states, including politically crucial Uttar Pradesh.

Election Commission (EC) has asked the Ministry of Home Affairs ( MHA) to make available 1,000 companies (100 personnel in each company) for the assembly elections expected to be held in next two months.

The EC has made the request during a recent meeting with the top officials of the MHA which discussed various aspects of security during the polling, official sources said.

In addition to the Central forces, police forces of all states will be deployed for the election duties.

Sources said that the MHA is expected to accede to the request of the EC and convey its decision to the poll body soon.

Assembly elections in Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur are expected to be held in single phase while in Uttar Pradesh it is likely to be multi-phased.

The schedule for the polls is likely to be announced by the EC anytime between December 28 and January 4.