LOK SABHA ELECTION

Cooch Behar ready for tomorrow's poll

COOCH BEHAR, April 29: Cooch Behar district is ready for tomorrow's Parliamentary election. Polling parties have left for the booths today. About 8,500 polling personnel are to man the polling booths tomorrow.

Among the 2,097 polling booths 864 have been declared as critical. The district is divided in 203 sectors and nine companies of Central para-military forces like BSF, CRPF, CISF and SAP are to maintain law and order in 107 sectors. About 5,000 WBAP jawans are also brought in from outer district for election duty.

Special security measures are being taken at 34 booths in Tufanganj and Boxirhat. These booths are adjacent to the Assam-Bengal border. At each of the 31 booths six jawans from Central forces are to be deployed while 12 jawans are to be deployed at each of the remaining three booths.

The 523-km Bangladesh border in the district is to be kept sealed till completion of the polling process. Strict surveillance would be there along the 94-km Assam-Bengal border. Central forces are to assist the existing armed forces to maintain peace at the bordering areas and other vulnerable places.

Tomorrow, the polling might be held in a peaceful situation, hoped the district magistrate Mr RK Sinha and SP Mr DP Singh.

On the otherhand, the candidates and their parties concerned are now busy in speculating their fates. Though the campaign officially concluded yesterday, the activists engaged themselves in door-to-door canvassing till now.

Both, the Left Front supported Forward Bloc candidate Mr Nripendra Nath Roy and the Congress supported Trinamul Congress candidate Mr Arghya Roy Pradhan, are confident about their victory. The Congress-Trinamul alliance believes that they may be able to snatch the Cooch Behar (SC) seat from the Forward Bloc. But, the CPI-M and Forward Bloc are not in a mood to surrender to the 'wind of change'.

The changing political scenario may play a decisive role this time. The BJP was with the Trinamul Congress in the previous election. This time they fielded a separate candidate. Instead, the Congress came out to support the Trinamul Congress.

On the otherhand, The CPI-M and the Forward Bloc came closer, at least apparently, leaving the bitter disunity between them. The Greater Cooch Behar Democratic Party (GCDP) too is in the poll fray. Candidates of the PDS, the BSP, the RPI, the Amra Bangalee may also pull a large quantity of votes in favour of their candidates.

And, considering the political arithmetic it depends on the other parties whether the Trinamul or the FB candidate to win or not.