Politicians are busy either lauding or criticising Mr. Narendra Modi. We, the junta, are busy clicking selfies at poll booths. And the media is busy deciding if NDA will win over 300 seats or will AAP spoil everyone’s party. Amidst the entire hullabaloo what all of us have overlooked is the contribution of the security personnel deployed across the country.
The voting for 16th Lok Sabha elections has been split into 9 phases for a reason. This is arguably the largest democratic exercise in the entire planet, and ensuring it is safe and secure is a gargantuan challenge.
The EC (Election Commission), MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs) and the paramilitary forces planned meticulously during the run-up to start of polling to ensure that adequate troops are deployed during each phase and that the distance they travel between each phase is at a minimum.
The numbers game
Over 2.1 lakh security personnel have been deployed in more than 9 lakh polling stations across the 543 constituencies during this election season. The electorate is 80 crore strong with vastly diverse political perspectives. The security challenge is multi-pronged. They are tasked with protecting polling booths, the voters and the EVMs. Then there is the small matter of keeping disruptive elements at bay. This is one job no one wants.
The challenges
CRPF plays the lead role in coordinating troop movement across India. The BSF, ITBP, CISF, SSB and the state police all follow its lead. For two months before voting commenced on April 7, the Election Commission, Ministry of Home Affairs and CRPF planned how best to utilise the troops, without subjecting them to undue pressure. The nine phases and the states voting during each phase were also decided keeping in mind the availability of forces and the possible security threats in each state. There are three main security issues that the security forces had to plan for – the insurgency in the Northeast, the Maoist threat in the eastern and central parts of India, and the possibility of terrorist threats in Jammu & Kashmir. Caste and religion-related conflicts is another major threat during election season.
Regional blocks
Four main regional blocks were identified – the Uttar Pradesh-Bihar-Bengal block, the South block, the Northeast block and the Naxal block. Troop movement was planned in such a way that maximum number of forces was available for each phase with minimum amount of travel and exertion. Any set of troops will not have to travel more than 500-600 kilometers. In 2009 the scenario was completely different. Troops had travelled from Tamil Nadu to Bengal and from Guwahati to Bangalore. They were exhausted by the time the next phase of polling began. This year the MHA requisitioned 100 trains from the Railway Ministry to ensure that troops don’t have to struggle while travelling from one polling station to the other. The state of Jammu & Kashmir has been treated as a separate block as well. Polls in the state will be carried out over 5 phases and the same set of troops will move across the state.
Phase 9
So, in UP troops moved from west to east. The first voting date was April 10 in western UP. The troops continued eastwards and are expected to assemble in eastern UP by May 12 for the 9th and final phase of voting, which includes tensely contested seats like Varanasi, Allahabad and Azamgarh. In case of Bihar the troops started from south Bihar and continued upwards, and will concentrate in and around west Bihar by the final phase. May 12 is also the main voting day in West Bengal. Troops from the Northeast and Jharkhand will descend on Bengal after the end of polling in those respective areas before the aforementioned date. Some forces from Gujarat are also expected to join the others in Bengal, which is the only long journey over the nearly six week long polling exercise. During the 9th phase, polling will simultaneously be conducted for 41 seats – 18 in UP, 6 in Bihar and 17 in Bengal.
Telengana
Similarly for the South block, the movement of forces across nine phases were planned to the last detail. Kerala got inked first on April 10. The troops deployed to Kerala then dispersed to Maharashtra and Karnataka for the polling on April 17. It gets tricky after this. The troops in Karnataka moved to Tamil Nadu to ensure peaceful polling on April 24. These troops and others then continued to Andhra for the two-phase polls on April 30 and the one coming up on May 7. A significant number of security forces had been stationed in the Telengana region while the formation of the state was being debated in the parliament. These forces temporarily moved to Odisha for polling in the state on April 17 and April 24. They returned in time for the polling in Telengana on April 30. The troops that were deployed in Tamil Nadu will join the forces from Telengana for the polls in the Seemandhra region on May 7.
Tackling insurgency
Troop deployment was comparatively easier for the Northeast block, since the region already has a significant armed forces presence. Troops were drawn from these. About 150 companies of additional troops were deployed from outside the region. The polling was planned in such a way that the hilly areas polled first followed by the plains. The logic behind this was that it takes longer for the troops to reach the hilly interiors, while descending to the plains is faster and easier. Also, the insurgency-prone areas in the Northeast polled first. The troops moved from the Border States, like Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland to Assam. In certain stretches in the Northeast troops had to walk 20 kilometers.
Numero uno challenge
The Naxal block was the biggest challenge as far as security is concerned. During the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, the security personnel deployed in the region faced serious setbacks due to bad planning. They weren’t going to make the same mistake twice. The polling in the naxal areas were carried out over the first three phases. The most battle hardened troops were deployed in this region. Since polling took place simultaneously the Maoists were spread thin and failed to inflict any serious damage. Troops moved from north Chhattisgarh to south Chhattisgarh, where most of the Maoist-affected areas are concentrated. Bastar polled on April 10, and Kanker and Mahasamund polled on April 17. These troops then dispersed to other affected areas for polling on April 24. Here polling dates were allocated to coincide with full-moon days as visibility at night is much better.
Inevitable?
Despite all the planning, lives of 35 security personnel have been lost during the 7 phases of polling that have completed so far. Other polling officers have lost their lives too. The CPI-Maoist carried out IED attacks in Bastar and Bijapur on April 13 that killed 13 people, including 6 polling officers. Similar IED explosions in Darbha, Chhatisgarh and in Dumka district, Jharkhand led to the deaths of several CRPF jawans and polling officers. The security plans improve with every poll, but so do the Maoist tactics.
Organising Lok Sabha polls is not short of planning for war. The irony is that this planning is the backbone of the democracy we enjoy and misuse. Undoubtedly by the 17th Lok Sabha polls the planning will become more sophisticated. Hopefully technology will play a much bigger role. But the disheartening factor is that irrespective of all these measures we will still be reading about ‘x’ number of security personnel sacrificing their lives on the battlefields of Indian democracy.
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