The Election Commission has decided to deploy over 60,000 personnel of central forces and 29,172 of state police in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha polls in Bengal on May 20.

The number of forces for the next phase will be higher than the previous four legs of the current elections.

The forces will manage 13,481 polling stations spread on 7,845 premises in seven constituencies. The decision to deploy 650 companies of central forces, averaging almost 7.8 central armed paramilitary forces (CAPF) personnel per polling premise, was made in response to vulnerability reports from the constituencies.

These reports have said that 7,711 of 13,481 polling stations, which is over 57 per cent, are categorised as sensitive in the seven constituencies.

During the fifth phase of elections, Hooghly, Serampore, and Arambagh in Hooghly district, Bongaon and Barrackpore in North 24-Parganas, and Howrah and Uluberia in Howrah district will go to the polls. Sources in the commission said the sensitivity level in the fifth phase was higher compared to the preceding four phases in which 18 constituencies had gone to the polls.

Data show 14.52 per cent of booths were classified as sensitive in the first phase. The rate rose to 32.19 per cent in the second phase, 40.21 per cent in the third phase and then dropped to 21.35 per cent in the fourth phase.

“The commission is very careful about Hooghly and Arambagh where the number of sensitive booths is more than 80 per cent and an extensive arrangement has been made to make the polls peaceful. The commission has requisitioned additional forces from the Union ministry of home affairs so that people can exercise their franchise fearlessly,” a senior official in the chief electoral officer (CEO)'s office said.

The commission's data show 1,787 of 2,048 polling stations (approximately 87.25 per cent) in Hooghly are labelled as sensitive and 1,770 of 2,078 polling stations (approximately 85.17 per cent) in Arambagh are vulnerable.

The commission has deployed a staggering 198 companies of central force only to oversee security in the Hooghly and Arambagh segments.

Apart from that, approximately 67.19 per cent of polling stations in Barrackpore and around 59.53 per cent in Serampore are classified as sensitive, prompting the commission to deploy 65 and 64 companies of the CAPF, respectively. Furthermore, the poll body has assigned 94 companies for Bongaon, 135 companies for Uluberia and 81 companies for Howrah.

"Considering the history of violence during elections in Barrackpore and Arambagh, the commission is not taking any chances. Apart from deploying the maximum number of central forces in the two constituencies, the commission has taken several corrective measures to make the election in these segments peaceful,” a senior commission official in charge of the security arrangement said.

The official was referring to the violence in Barrackpore during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and the 2021 Assembly elections. More than eight people were killed in Barrackpore in the run-up to the 2021 Assembly elections.

Arambagh also saw severe violence during these two elections.

To fulfil the requirement of the final three phases, the EC has already asked for more forces from the Centre. Sources in the commission said the Centre had already sanctioned 203 companies, taking the total force count to 799 companies.