The Election Commission is set to deploy 66 companies of central forces in East Midnapore and West Midnapore by Monday in a clear indication that the poll panel is worried about the law and order in the two districts regarded as the backyard of Suvendu Adhikari who left the Trinamul Congress to join the BJP.

The number of companies for East Midnapore and West Midnapore are 35 and 31, respectively.

“Usually, such a huge deployment of central forces is not done during the campaigning phase. It is clear the poll panel is keen to ensure that the law and order doesn’t worsen in the two districts, especially in East Midnapore where chief minister Mamata Banerjee is likely to take on Suvendu (in the Nandigram Assembly segment),” said a senior Bengal government official.

The two Midnapores will go to the polls on March 27 and April 1.

Sources in the state administration said the political atmosphere in East Midnapore and the adjoining West Midnapore had been charged up after Suvendu’s switch to the BJP.

“The atmosphere has become more competitive since the chief minister’s decision to contest from Nandigram whose sitting MLA is Suvendu. If the EC decides to deploy a large contingent of central forces in the district, it is clear the poll panel is keeping a close watch on the developments,” said another official.

The sources said 125 companies of central forces had already been deployed in the state. The poll panel is set to send another 170 paramilitary companies to Bengal by

March 8. Of the 170 companies, 66 would be deployed in East Midnapore and West Midnapore.

The remaining forces would be posted in districts like Jhargram, Purulia, Bankura, Howrah and South-24 Parganas, which will go to the polls in the first three phases.

A section of officials at Nabanna said they had never witnessed such a huge deployment in the state even before the formal launch of campaigning by political parties.

“In the past, only a few companies, for example three-four companies for each district, used to be deployed after the election dates were declared. Heavy deployment was done three-four days ahead of the polls,” said an official.

The sources said Opposition parties, mainly the BJP, had lodged a series of complaints with the EC about the law and order in Bengal.

“The EC is perhaps trying to give a level-playing field to all parties ahead of the polls. The panchayat polls in 2018 had made it clear that if the poll panel depends on state police to maintain law and order ahead of the elections, the Opposition parties would not be allowed to campaign,” said a BJP leader.

According to the sources, the EC might deploy a total of 650 paramilitary companies in Bengal before the first phase of the voting on March 27.