Bhopal, Nov 27: More than 28 per cent polling stations have been declared sensitive in Madhya Pradesh prompting authorities to undertake elaborate security measures to ensure free and fair assembly polls on December 01. As many as 11,859 of the 42,267 polling stations for 230 assembly seats in the state have been identified as sensitive, chief electoral officer D S Mathur said. Hyper-sensitive category has been merged with sensitive booths this time, he added.

Maximum number of 1046 sensitive polling stations are in dacoity-prone Gwalior-Chambal divisions and Tikamgarh district followed by 769 in naxalite-hit Balaghat district, while the minimum number of 54 sensitive booths are in Umariya district.

There are 49 sensitive booths in assembly speaker Srinivas Tiwari's Mangawan constituency in Rewa district where large scale irregularities in preparation of voters' list had been alleged leading to a thorough review and deletion of over 21,000 names from the electoral roll. Apprehending trouble in many areas including naxalite-infested Balaghat, Mandla and Dindori districts, authorities have made arrangements for deployment of security forces in strength in these areas.

In the wake of People's War Group's (PWG) pressure on the people in Balaghat to boycott the elections, security agencies are keeping strict vigil in the area.

In order to prevent any untoward incident during the poll process, some 100 companies of central para-military forces have been allotted to the state, official sources said.

Bureau Report