NEW DELHI: The center has decided to move an additional force of 20000 paramilitary personnel to Punjab before the scheduled June 22 elections in the border state federal home secretary R K Bhargava said late Wednesday.
The 200 additional companies will be spent to Punjab soon after the elections in the other parts of the country were over Bhargava told the state-run All India Radio in an interview.
These forces will be in addition to nearly 396 companies of paramilitary forces comprising about 40000 personnel already in operation in Punjab he said adding “these additional companies can take care of whatever contingencies arise”.
Asked if the situation in the border state was conducive to holding elections the home secretary said 30 companies of central security forces had been made available to state governments to provide protection to candidates who asked for help.
Bhargav categorically stated that there had been no withdrawal of security forces from Jammu and Kashmir Assam and Punjab to meet the requirement of paramilitary forces for the coming elections
PATNA: The government of Bihar once again urged the election commission to reconsider its decision on the ban on the deployment of home-guards for the poll linked duties in the state.
Briefing newsmen after a meeting of the council of ministers an official spokesman said the cabinet observed that the election commission had allowed the use of home-guards in other states for election purpose built not in Bihar.
He said the cabinet was of the opinion that maintenance of law and order was responsibility of the state and that the election commission should reconsider its decision immediately.
The spokesman also said since December 1990 not a single home-guard had been appointed by the state government.
The EC banned the use of home-guards for poll-linked duties in Bihar after reports filtered in about the J D government promising to make home-guards government employees if they won
Article extracted from this publication >> May 24, 1991
