45K cops, 190 units of central forces for polls

NEW DELHI: The State Election Commission (SEC) has received only seven nominations from independent candidates for the municipal election so far, officials said on Thursday, adding all of them have been accepted.

Meanwhile, Delhi Police officers aware of the matter said at least 190 companies of the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) and around 45,000 police personnel are set to be deployed for the elections, if needed. “One nomination each has been received from Rohini-c ward, Vijay Vihar ward, Madipur and Green Park wards while three nominations have been received from Baprola ward,” an SEC official said.

The commission has still not released the ward-wise electoral roll, and its website and mobile phone application are plagued with glitches.

A second official said that a joint meeting was called by SEC to review the election preparation with commissioner of police Sanjay Arora, officials of the ministry of home affairs and Delhi chief secretary Naresh Kumar.

“The election will involve the participation of around 100,000 government officials and the chief secretary has assured that all needs of manpower will be addressed,” the official said, adding that the deployment of security personnel and identification of sensitive polling stations were reviewed with Delhi Police.

A Delhi Police officer said, “Since the number of voters has gone over 14.6 million now... it is expected that the number of CAPF companies deployed will be more than 190... All deputy commissioners of police (DCPS) have been asked to provide the minute details of sensitive and super-sensitive booths.”