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ELECTIONS '96

Massive security for second phase of polling

An unprecedented security cover has been thrown over the 183 Lok Sabha constituencies going to polls on Sunday, to prevent recurrence of the rigging and violence witnessed during the first phase of polling that left at least 30 people dead and the election countermanded in Patna constituency.

The elaborate security arrangements include shoot-at-sight orders, use of helicopters to monitor the movement of Naxalites and landmine experts and sniffer dogs to detect explosives, sealing of international borders with Bangladesh and Nepal to check infiltration of criminals, thousands of preventive arrests and a ''special contingency plan.''

About 205 million voters will decide the electoral futures of 1,545 candidates in tomorrow's balloting in nine states and Pondicherry. Simultaneous bypolls will be held in nine assembly constituencies in Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Tamil Nadu (two each), and Karnataka, West Bengal and Pondicherry (one each).

Authorities have issued shoot-at-sight orders in several sensitive constituencies, particularly those infested by Naxalites, while the international borders with Nepal and Bangladesh have been sealed to check infiltration of criminal elements.

Landmine experts and sniffer dogs were pressed into service to detect explosives and helicopters were used to monitor the movements of Naxalites in several areas, including the Chattisgarh region of Madhya Pradesh. The officials were unwilling to leave anything to chance, particularly in the light of the Coimbatore blasts that left 60 people dead.

The Naxalites have issued poll boycott calls in Madhya Pradesh and other places, while the Gorkha National Liberation Front has made a similar threat and announced a 72-hour bandh, starting yesterday, in the hilly Darjeeling constituency. The West Bengal government has made a ''special contingency'' plan to deal with the situation.

In Bihar, the Election Commission has ordered special security arrangements in seven hyper-sensitive constituencies. These include Hajipur, where Railway Minister Ram Vilas Paswan of the Janata Dal is pitted against former chief minister Ram Sundar Das of the Samajwadi Janata Party and Siwan, which has Mohammed Shahbuddin who faces several criminal cases including the alleged murder of former Jawaharlal Nehru University students union president Chandrasekhar, as one of the contestants. Other such sensitive constituencies are Gopalganj, Motihari, Sheohar, Barh and Maharajganj.

UNI

Elections '98

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