Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose set a 48-hour deadline for the State Election Commission (SEC) to reign in panchayat poll violence across the state on a day when the Commission informed the Calcutta High Court that it would conduct the July 8 polls with a full posse of 822 companies of central armed forces.

The commission also made a steep jump from its previous assessment to inform the court that 4,838 polling booths, or 7.85 per cent of the total 61,636 booths across the state, have been identified as ‘sensitive’. Earlier, at the end of the nomination filing process, the poll body had tagged that denotation to just 189 booths.

In its affidavit before the division bench of Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam, the Commission conveyed the Centre’s approval for an additional 485 companies of central forces over and above the 337 companies approved earlier by the Union home ministry. The forces are expected to reach the state within the next 48 hours, the commission informed.

The bench, which continues to hear petitions on increasing the number of phases of polls and effective deployment of security to prevent electoral malpractices, has so far given no indication of its desire to extend the single-phase poll announced by the SEC. Much to the chagrin of the opposition parties, though, the commission declared that it plans to deploy civic volunteers outside polling stations to “manage voter queues”. The court would continue to hear the matter on Tuesday.

Meanwhile on Monday, the very day of his return from violence-hit areas of Cooch Behar in north Bengal, Governor Ananda Bose rushed to Basanti in South 24 Parganas, which is on the boil following the murder of 42-year old Trinamul Congress worker, Jiarul Mollah, on Saturday evening. The victim was pumped with bullets on his way back home by motorcycle-borne assailants. The area has been witnessing back-to-back instances of violence between the official Trinamul and followers of disgruntled Trinamul over the past 48 hours.

Ananda Bose met local villagers and spoke to the slain TMC worker’s daughter Manoara Piyada, a candidate for the party’s Kanthalberia Panchayat Samity, who claimed that her father was killed over an intra-party feud in connection to distribution of tickets and demanded CBI a probe into her father’s death. Assuring swift action from his side to put a lid on violence, the Governor also transferred Rs 40,000 to the victim’s family from the Raj Bhavan account.

“I am convinced who the gang leaders are and I will share that information with the authorities in confidence. I will wait for 48 hours to see what actions the competent authorities are taking, within the provisions of the Constitution and as per mandate of the Calcutta High Court. After the deadline and based on the quality of decision making by the state authorities, I share my report card with my masters, that is the people of West Bengal,” Ananda Bose said.

In its affidavit to the court, the SEC identified the highest number of sensitive booths in Murshidabad district (541 out of 5438 booths) followed by South 24 Parganas (502 out of 6226 booths). In terms of percentage, Cooch Behar has the maximum number of sensitive booths (317 out of 2385 or 13.29 per cent), the Commission informed.

Far from impressed with the Commission’s assessment, opposition parties maintained that about 15,000 booths across the state should have been declared sensitive. Demanding adequate central forces across booths in Murshidabad, Bengal Pradesh Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said: “The maximum number of booths in Murshidabad have been declared sensitive since they are sensitive to the Trinamul Congress. The state and its machinery would do everything possible to resort to unfair means and violence during the polls since TMC has lost people’s trust.”

Adding to the chagrin of the opposition was the Commission’s informing the High Court about its decision to engage civic volunteers for voters’ queue management outside polling stations and deploy them at naka check points. The poll body stated in its affidavit that the decision was in compliance with the court’s previous order and the SEC’s own regulations to keep civic volunteers out of the poll process.

CPI-M leader Sujan Chakraborty called the move a “desperate attempt by the Commission to somehow fit civic volunteers in the poll process despite court orders to the contrary”. “Who would guarantee that volunteers wouldn’t try to influence voters in favour of the ruling party in the name of queue management?” he asked.

In its affidavit, the SEC also informed the Bench that 95 per cent of polling stations would have CCTV coverage and the facilities of videography have been made at the remaining 632 booths.