NEW DELHI, February 5: Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) M S Gill today dismissed as a ``non-serious claim'', the demand of the Delhi Police Commissioner for additional security forces for the polling day.Advising the Delhi police to go in for some belt tightening and do away with unnecessary security, Gill said Delhi was as it is a ``pampered city'' with a large enough force at its disposal. ``I am very, very surprised by the Police Commissioner's demand,'' said Gill, adding that ``certainly Delhi is not short of police personnel''. The Delhi Police Commissioner T R Kakkar had sought an additional 5,000 para-military personnel to be deployed in the capital on polling day to ensure law and order.
The CEC said the Commission has been having daily consultations with the Home Ministry on ways to provide security forces in different parts of the country where the need for additional forces was most acute. ``Almost everywhere state administrations ask for enhanced forces, but the supply of armed personnel isnot unlimited,'' he said.
In the case of Delhi, the worry should be ``how to eliminate unnecessary security cover for unnecessary people'', he said. ``The worry should be that a large number of the force available is locked up in needless security''. ``Everyone is not threatened,'' said Gill, saying ``a hard government needs to look at the entire issue of providing security to all kinds of people''. He for one, would be very glad if his own security staff was reduced, said Gill.
The Election Commission has identified 15 violence-prone constituencies in Bihar and directed the state Chief Secretary to ensure that no weapons are publicly carried or displayed in these areas.
Seven constituencies in Uttar Pradesh have been identified as constituencies where additional poll observers would be deployed.
Fifteen constituencies in Bihar have been identified as ``hyper-sensitive''. Gill who is visiting these constituencies from tomorrow, said the Chief Secretaries of the states have been instructed to allow noweapons to be carried publicly or displayed in these places.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
